Tag Archives: Mega Drive

Evercade A to Z, Videos

Evercade A to Z: Tanzer

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You can dance if you want to, and leave your friends behind. In fact, you’ll have to, since Tanzer is a single-player game — and one of the most exciting games in the Evercade’s launch lineup.

Taking on the role of some sort of cybernetic ballet dancer fleeing a deadly plague, it’s your job to travel through time and beat the crap out of all manner of robotic and alien nasties. Why? Not sure. It’s fun, though, and very hard!

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

Fatal Rewind, Mega Drive

The Killing Game Show: The Only Way is Up

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This post is one chapter of a MegaFeature!
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A couple of years after his first commercial video game Combat Crazy had failed to set the sales charts alight — despite being an enjoyable side-scrolling platform shooter — Bizarre Creations founder Martyn Chudley was back with another game, this time for 16-bit platforms.

The new title was known as The Killing Game Show,Β and was published on 16-bit home computers by a company called Psygnosis, which had been establishing a very solid reputation for itself since its inception in 1986. Not only was Psygnosis a spiritual successor to the legendary 8-bit developer-publisher Imagine Software, but it had also demonstrated right from the start that it was a company dedicated to high-quality, well-produced games that oozed class and style — on both the computer screen and on players’ shelves, too.

The Killing Game Show, developed by Chudley and a team working under the name Raising Hell Software, was an ideal fit for Psygnosis’ portfolio, featuring impressive visuals and solid but challenging gameplay to back them up. So let’s take a closer look.

Continue reading The Killing Game Show: The Only Way is Up →

Evercade, Interplay Collection 2, Mega Drive, SNES

Earthworm Jim 2: See What Sticks

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With the positive reception the first Earthworm Jim had on its original release, a sequel was inevitable. But how do you follow something as chaotic and irreverent as Earthworm Jim?

The obvious answer, of course, is to make itΒ even moreΒ chaotic and irreverent, so that’s exactly what Jim’s original creators Doug TenNapel, Dave Perry and Shiny Entertainment did with the follow-up. The result is very much a game that feels like it’s throwing absolutely everything at the wall in order to see what sticks… for better or worse.

You certainly can’t accuse it of just being a rehash of the original, though. So let’s take a closer look, thanks to theΒ Interplay Collection 2Β cartridge on the Evercade retro gaming system.

Continue reading Earthworm Jim 2: See What Sticks →

Evercade, Mega Drive, Xeno Crisis and Tanglewood

Tanglewood: Outfoxed at Every Turn

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Following the initial batch of ten cartridges for the Evercade retro gaming platform, one of the releases that people were most excited for was cartridge number 11: a double pack featuring arena shooter Xeno Crisis and platformer Tanglewood.

We’ll get toΒ Xeno CrisisΒ in due course, but I wanted to make a point of looking atΒ TanglewoodΒ first. Because whileΒ TanglewoodΒ was, likeΒ Xeno Crisis, a successful Kickstarter project that ended up being released on both Mega Drive and modern platforms, it’sΒ Xeno CrisisΒ that has had the lion’s share of attention to date. And you know how much I love an underdog. Or an underfox, in this case.

Fortunately,Β TanglewoodΒ is a lovely game in its own right, so I’m glad I decided to give it a look first. Let’s explore together!

Continue reading Tanglewood: Outfoxed at Every Turn →

Data East Collection 1, Evercade, Mega Drive

Midnight Resistance: Under Lock and Key

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Throughout the 8- and 16-bit home computer and console eras, we saw numerous developers “paying homage” to one another’s work — and often developing their own interesting twists on the formula in the process.

One cannot look at Data East’s 1989 releaseΒ Midnight ResistanceΒ and not think of Konami’sΒ ContraΒ from two years prior, for example, but in practice the two games play quite differently, developing their own distinct identities in the process.

These days,Β ContraΒ is by far the better known game, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t exploreΒ Midnight ResistanceΒ for yourself. And, as luck would have it,Β Midnight ResistanceΒ can be found in its Mega Drive incarnation on the Data East Collection 1Β cartridge for the Evercade retro gaming system — so let’s take a closer look!

Continue reading Midnight Resistance: Under Lock and Key →

Evercade

A Warm Welcome to the Evercade

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Over the course of the last few years, retro gaming devices of various descriptions have become very popular.

Until now, these have tended to fall into one of two categories: emulation boxes that you can load up with your own collection of ROMs and enjoy to your heart’s content, or pre-curated systems with fixed libraries of games.

Evercade is different. Evercade provides a curated library of officially licensed cartridges that are distributed as packaged, physical products separately from the system itself. And somehow manufacturer Blaze managed to successfully launch this exciting new product in the midst of a world gone absolutely mad. So let’s take a first look at the system!

Continue reading A Warm Welcome to the Evercade →

Mega Drive, Streets of Rage

Streets of Rage 3: The Most Notorious Localisation

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Ah, Streets of Rage 3. Probably the most notorious entry in the franchise due to how heavily it was altered between its original Japanese release as Bare Knuckle III and its Western incarnation.

Thankfully, modern compilations such as theΒ Sega Mega Drive ClassicsΒ collection make it very easy to access the Japanese version — though it’s worth taking a look at the Western release too for an extreme example of what unnecessary localisation due to external pressure looks like.

Let’s hit the streets once again!

Continue reading Streets of Rage 3: The Most Notorious Localisation →

Evercade

Evercade: The Case for Curated Retro Gaming

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Blaze’s new retro gaming handheld, the Evercade, officially launches on May 22, 2020, with the company hoping to get units in the hands of everyone who preordered by June 12, 2020 at the latest.

Since I’m planning some extensive coverage of this device and its games as soon as mine arrives — fingers crossed it’s towards the beginning of that release window, but we’ll have to wait and see at the time of writing! — I thought I’d take the opportunity to talk a little bit about this new device, why it appeals, and why I hope it ends up being a success.

Plus, if you’ve not yet heard of the Evercade, you can find out a bit more about it for yourself. Everyone wins. Hit the jump and let’s get started!

Continue reading Evercade: The Case for Curated Retro Gaming →

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 →

Podcast

The MoeGamer Podcast: Episode 18 – Beakf*cker Gets Horizontal

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Hello! Welcome, once again, to The MoeGamer Podcast, featuring my erotic baritone (so I’m told) along with the fine pipes of my good friend Chris Caskie of MrGilderPixels.

The MoeGamer Podcast is available in several places. You canΒ 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 SoundcloudΒ for the audio-only version of the podcast; you canΒ subscribe via RSSΒ to get the audio-only version of the podcast in your favourite podcast app; or you canΒ 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 18 – Beakf*cker Gets Horizontal →