Tag Archives: gameplay

OutRun 2006, Sunday Driving, Videos

Sunday Driving: Don’t Lose Your Girlfriend! – OutRun 2006 Coast 2 Coast #4

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After some… rather varied results on our last outing, I thought today we’d concentrate on a specific part of OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast.

Specifically, I thought it was time we took a look at the next tier of Flagman’s objectives. These mostly encompass racing and related disciplines, but there are some interesting challenges along the way that aren’t quite what you might normally expect from an arcade racer…

Hit the jump to see how things went today… and if I lost my girlfriend!

Continue reading Sunday Driving: Don’t Lose Your Girlfriend! – OutRun 2006 Coast 2 Coast #4 →

Features, MoeGamer Awards 2018

The MoeGamer Awards 2018: Most Satisfying Sequel

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The MoeGamer Awards are a series of “alternative” awards that I’ve devised in collaboration with the community as an excuse to celebrate the games, experiences and fanbases that have left a particular impression on me in 2018. Find out more and leave a suggestion here!

This award was suggested by Riobravo79.

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While it’s nice to get brand-new, all-original games when we can, sometimes it’s a pleasure to see an old friend again… perhaps in a slightly different form.

The sequel has been part of video game culture pretty much since the beginning, and the fine art of recycling, refining and/or reimagining is way more prevalent in gaming than in pretty much any other creative medium. Developers have experimented with a lot of different ways of putting together follow-ups for well-received titles over the years… but what makes for the most satisfying successors?

Do you provide more of the same with minor refinements? Do you provide some sort of obvious “upgrade” while remaining true to the original game’s format? Or do you completely reinvent the formula, potentially bringing new players on board but also possibly alienating your original fanbase?

And the winner is…

Continue reading The MoeGamer Awards 2018: Most Satisfying Sequel →

Videos, Warriors Wednesday

Warriors Wednesday: Worst Sneak Attack Ever – Warriors Orochi #17

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Wu, Wu! That’s the sound of the pain train coming your way, Orochi… just, uh, not just yet.

Sun Ce and friends continue being forced into an uneasy alliance with Captain Snakeypants as people important to them are held hostage. Sun Ce has little choice but to go along with Orochi’s scheming until he and his companions have a suitable opportunity to take matters into their own hands.

That means a whole lot of fighting former friends… as well as fending off possibly the least subtle “sneak attack” in all of history. Hit the jump to see how the battle went.

Continue reading Warriors Wednesday: Worst Sneak Attack Ever – Warriors Orochi #17 →

Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Klax

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It is the ’90s, and there is time for Klax.

To be fair, there is time for Klax whenever you care to make time for Klax. It is currently 2018, for example, and there is still time for Klax, so I always thought this particular marketing slogan was rather odd. But it was certainly memorable if nothing else, and few would argue that the dude depicted playing Klax on the cover of Tengen and Domark’s Atari ST release of this match-3 puzzler is not a quintessential example of a distinctly ’90s-looking gamer.

Anyway. Klax is one of the earliest puzzle games I recall having a good time with — I actually played it before I played Tetris for the first time, I believe — and it still holds up well today. Though I’m absolutely not as good at it as I used to be. And the Atari Lynx version is better. But this ST version is still worth a look!

Follow Atari A to Z on its own dedicated site here!

Videos

Atari A to Z: Pharaoh’s Curse

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Pharaoh’s Curse is legitimately one of my favourite games on the Atari 8-bit, and one I frequently revisit to unironically enjoy every so often.

Developed by Steve Coleman, who we last saw at the helm of Mastertronic’s Ninja, Pharaoh’s Curse is an early example of an open-world 2D action adventure, allowing players to explore 16 screens arranged in a 4×4 grid in an attempt to recover all the awkwardly positioned treasures before escaping.

16 rooms doesn’t sound like much, does it? Well, you clearly haven’t counted on the intervention of the mummy. And the pharaoh. And all the traps. And that stupid bastard absolute penis of a flying thing that always shows up at the worst possible moment. Not that I’m bitter at all, no no no.

Follow Atari A to Z on its own dedicated site here!

OutRun 2006, Sunday Driving, Videos

Sunday Driving: Pipped to the Post… Twice – OutRun 2006 Coast 2 Coast #2

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Let’s continue our OutRun adventure beneath those glorious Sega blue skies!

OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast is one of my favourite arcade racers, and playing through for this series is reminding me quite how much substance there is to it. This is no straight arcade port, by any means; there’s a wealth of different challenges to take on in both the “racing” and “Heart Attack” disciplines, represented by the portly Flagman and a trio of beautiful girlfriends respectively.

Of course, you can still also just play the arcade game if you want, too… but where there’s a “career” of sorts it’s worth getting stuck in, huh? Hit the jump to see how I got on today…

Continue reading Sunday Driving: Pipped to the Post… Twice – OutRun 2006 Coast 2 Coast #2 →

New Game Plus, Project Zero, Videos

New Game Plus: Return to Himuro Mansion – Project Zero #4

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A little late for New Game Plus this week, I know, but I had to prioritise finishing off Maiden of Black Water, which I’m delighted to say I have now done. Please read my piece on it!

In New Game Plus, it’s right back to the beginning of the Project Zero series for us as we kick off a full-on actual New Game Plus run of the main story mode — this time on Nightmare difficulty.

Everything you ended the game with — film, healing items, camera upgrades — carries across into a new game, so this should be easy, right…?

Continue reading New Game Plus: Return to Himuro Mansion – Project Zero #4 →

Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Interphase

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Today’s Atari ST game is one of my favourites from my childhood… and a cool example of a developer thinking creatively.

Interphase, developed by The Assembly Line and published by Image Works and Mirrorsoft, is a game about infiltrating a building. The twist is, you don’t control the one doing the infiltrating; instead, you are hooked into the building’s electrical systems, manipulating them from an abstract 3D representation of “cyberspace”, while your off-screen companion is doing the difficult bit of actually getting through the building.

It’s a really cool game, and one that had a decently long lifespan too, thanks to its original commercial release being followed up by the complete game being given away as a freebie on an ST magazine’s cover-mounted floppy disk — ST Format, if I remember correctly. It remains solidly playable today, and well worth a look.

Follow Atari ST A to Z on its own dedicated site here!

Videos, Warriors Wednesday

Warriors Wednesday: Samurai Warriors vs Orochi – Warriors Orochi #14

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We’ve made it! The final battle… for this campaign, anyway.

Yes, today we reach the climactic final showdown of the Samurai campaign in Warriors Orochi and face the snake god himself in single combat.

Well, okay, we bring along all our friends and pound on him so much he can’t fight back. Even the great warriors of history weren’t above using schoolyard tactics.

Continue reading Warriors Wednesday: Samurai Warriors vs Orochi – Warriors Orochi #14 →

Auto Modellista, Sunday Driving, Videos

Sunday Driving: I’m At My Limit – Auto Modellista #5

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Well, it’s been a fun ride, but I think I’m going to call time on my Auto Modellista career… for now, anyway.

I’ve reached a point in the game where I just don’t seem to have the right combination of cars, parts and raw skills to be able to pass the challenges I’m presented with. And so after today’s attempts, in which I experiment with a few different cars to see what difference they might make to my performance, I think it’s time to move on.

Hit the jump to see exactly what led me to this conclusion… and if you know this game well and have any suggestions on how I might be able to progress, I’ll gratefully hear them!

Continue reading Sunday Driving: I’m At My Limit – Auto Modellista #5 →