Tag Archives: retro games

Evercade, SNES, Technōs Collection 1

Super Double Dragon: An Unfinished Symphony

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Despite being the franchise that pretty much defined a whole genre, the Double Dragon series has had its share of troubles over the years.

One particularly troubled installment was 1992’s fourth game in the series, known as Super Double Dragon in the West, and Return of Double Dragon in its slightly enhanced Japanese release. This Super NES-exclusive title suffered from an all-too-common problem in the games industry that we still see to this day: the developers being forced to rush the game out before it was completely finished.

Even the enhanced Japanese release was missing some of the material that was originally supposed to be in the game, but for now it remains the definitive version of the game. Lucky that we now have easy access to this version thanks to the Technos Collection 1 cartridge for the Evercade retro gaming system, then, isn’t it?

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Podcast

The MoeGamer Podcast: Episode 45 – One Hell of a Year

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Welcome to the obligatory podcast-format end-of-the-year roundup! I’m joined for this exploration of a year we’ll all remember for quite some time by, as always, Chris Caskie of CCaskieArt.

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:

And hit the jump for show notes!

Continue reading The MoeGamer Podcast: Episode 45 – One Hell of a Year →

Announcements, Community

Around the Network

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Good evening! I’ve spent most of the day editing a new episode of The MoeGamer Podcast, so you can expect that tomorrow.

I’m not doing a full series of The MoeGamer Awards for the whole month this year — I might do some “[x] of the year” towards the end of December though — so the upcoming episode is very much a “best of 2020” sort of deal. And in our usual manner, most of the stuff we’ve picked is stuff you won’t hear the mainstream talking a great deal about!

Please, as they say, look forward to it. In the meantime, here’s a roundup of what you might have missed in the last week.

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Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: RealSports Baseball

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We’re back once again with the RealSports series, and this time we’re looking at RealSports Baseball for the Atari 5200.

While the Atari 2600 version of RealSports Baseball really struggled to provide a convincing game, particularly when played against a computer-controlled opponent, the Atari 5200 fares much better in this regard, offering the potential for a much more complex and interesting game without sacrificing accessibility and immediacy. Plus there’s digitised speech! Who’d have thought it?

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

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Evercade A to Z, Videos

Evercade A to Z: Tanglewood

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The Evercade isn’t just about old games — it’s also about new games developed for old platforms. Tanglewood, one half of the eleventh cartridge in the system’s library, is a great example.

Developed in 2018 making a specific effort to use authentically ’90s-style techniques and tools that Mega Drive programmers would have used back in the day, Tanglewood is a charming puzzle platformer with a clear artistic vision and some enjoyable gameplay to back it up.

Check it out in the video below, read my writeup to find out more, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube when you’re done!

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Jupiter Probe

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Microdeal offered the Atari ST some solid support in its early days, with the software they published covering a wide variety of genres — and not just games.

Probably one of the most “traditional” games they published was Jupiter Probe, one of many games by the prolific Steve Bak, and a solid shoot ’em up in its own right — even if its concept and setting is based on… somewhat shaky scientific foundation, to say the least. Music by the legendary Rob Hubbard, though!

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

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short;Play, Videos

short;Play: Quantum Theory

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What might it look like if the creative minds behind the masterful Project Zero series of ghost-hunting survival horror games made a third-person shooter?

A lot like Quantum Theory, as it happens! Released in 2010 as the work of Project Zero creator Makoto Shibata and Koei Tecmo’s Team Tachyon development department, Quantum Theory was not well received by press or public alike. Checking it out ten years later, though, it turns out there’s a lot of interesting — and visually arresting — stuff to explore in this game.

So let’s do that in the video below! Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more when you’re done.

Mighty Switch Force

Mighty Switch Force: Perilous Policing

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WayForward have made some great games over the years — and not just in their flagship Shantae series.

One of their most interesting and enjoyable series of games comes in the form of Mighty Switch Force!, which provides a delightful blend of platforming and puzzling with plenty of that distinctive WayForward charm about it.

And it’s easier than ever to jump on board with the series today, thanks to the release of Mighty Switch Force! Collection on Switch, Windows PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. So let’s dive in and take a look at the first game in the series.

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Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z: Preppie!

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Certain games — especially from the early days of the medium — really come to define a platform. And today’s Atari 8-bit game is one of those games.

Preppie! by Russ Wetmore, published by Adventure International, is a fun twist on the Frogger theme, which also acts as a great demonstration of what the Atari 8-bit is capable of. It’s a widely beloved game with good reason, and often cited as a highlight of the platform’s extensive game library.

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

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Warriors Orochi 2

Warriors Orochi 2: Building a Better Warrior

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There are an awful lot of Warriors games on the market today. And while many may superficially seem quite similar to one another, delving into each of them reveals their unique qualities.

In many cases, the people who brand all Warriors games as being “the same” are likely just looking at the most well-known component: the real-time, hack-and-slash, large-scale brawler action that has been the series’ hallmark since its second installment (well, first if we’re being really picky here — but that’s a tale for another time). Even there, though, each Warriors game provides its own twist on the two-button combat thanks to its selection of characters, and numerous mechanics laid atop that.

Where Warriors games truly distinguish themselves, however, is in their progression systems. Powering up your characters is where the longevity in Warriors games come from — and Warriors Orochi 2 has plenty of ways in which you can do just that. So let’s take a closer look.

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