Tag Archives: retro games

Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Aerith Gainsborough

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While her castmate Tifa is arguably a more popular character — primarily due to her more obvious “sexiness” — I’ve always been an Aerith man, myself.

At least part of this may be down to the fact that on my first playthrough of Final Fantasy VII on PlayStation I changed her name to that of someone I really fancied at the time, but there was definitely a lot about the character that appealed to me.

And that appeal has successfully transitioned from the questionably translated, text-only dialogue of the original to Final Fantasy VII Remake on PlayStation 4, too. So let’s take a closer look.

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PSP

Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary: The Remake Treatment

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At the time of writing, Final Fantasy VII Remake has just released to widespread acclaim (and a bit of moaning, but that’s just the Internet doing its usual thing). But this is far from the first Final Fantasy to get the remake treatment!

Granted, the remakes that the first Final Fantasy has received over the years are somewhat less drastic than the ambitious multi-part Final Fantasy VII Remake project, but they’re noteworthy nonetheless. And they don’t come much better than the PSP “20th Anniversary” edition that released back in 2007.

So let’s take a closer look at what makes this version great.

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Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z: Interval

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Ever since the early days of computing, programmers have been finding ways to develop educational software for a variety of purposes.

One such programmer was Douglas Crockford, who was a particular fan of experimenting with the Atari 8-bit’s sound capabilities. One such experiment led to the creation of Interval, a piece of software designed to help you train your aural skills — whether you’re a musician, a teacher or simply someone with an interest in musical theory.

This is actually a really solid program that can still be of use to music teachers in the 21st Century — though quite how many still have an Atari 8-bit in their teaching space I have no idea…

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Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: Desert Falcon

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Today’s game hails from the latter days of the 2600, and was actually an Atari 7800 launch title.

For one reason or another, Atari 7800 games rarely make it onto these compilations of old Atari stuff — though the Evercade, coming later this year, corrects this oversight somewhat — so we tend to be stuck with the technically inferior Atari 2600 versions.

That said, even the 2600 version of Desert Falcon is an unusual, interesting shoot ’em up with some peculiar mechanics — so it’s well worth checking out.

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Atelier, Atelier Iris

Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny – Narrative, Themes and Characterisation

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cropped-atelier-megafeature-header-1-8868334This post is one chapter of a MegaFeature!
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Although technically a “sequel” to Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana — it was even known as Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana 2 in Japan — Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny unfolds quite differently from its predecessor.

It’s set long before the events of Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana, for starters, so the world in which the action unfolds is very different. There’s a stark divide between the peaceful land of Eden, where alchemy is widespread and Mana spirits walk (or walk-equivalent) the streets alongside humans, and the “surface world” of Belkhyde, which left the practice of alchemy behind long ago.

Before we delve into all that, though, there’s an important question to address: what the fuck is an “azoth”, anyway?

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Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy Marathon, Videos

Final Fantasy Marathon: The Arcane Labyrinth, Part 1 – Final Fantasy II #15

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And so we come to Final Fantasy II’s endgame. Before we jump in to the final dungeons to take down the Emperor once and for all, it’s time to go ultimate weapon hunting!

In Final Fantasy II for PSP, this process involves running the Arcane Labyrinth’s three “keeps”, then heading to the Arcane Sanctuary and hoping you did everything correctly.

Today we get started on the first step of that process. Much like the bonus dungeons in Final Fantasy for PSP, this isn’t going to be an entirely straightforward ride!

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Battleships

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In the navy, you can sail the seven seas! You can also blow seven shades of snot out of your friends, siblings and/or parents using nothing more than a pen and paper.

Or perhaps an Atari ST and a copy of Battleships by Elite, an adaptation of the classic tabletop game that aims to up the pace of things a bit by allowing you to fire “salvos” of shots all over the shop in the (usually vain) hope of actually hitting something.

It may look primitive today, but this was an enjoyable fun time in multiplayer back in the day!

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One-Shots, Puzzlers, Switch

Boulder Dash 30th Anniversary: The Rockford Files

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Boulder Dash is an all-time classic game from the early microcomputer era.

First releasing on Atari 8-bit computers in 1984, it has enjoyed numerous ports, sequels, spinoffs and unofficial level packs for a wide variety of platforms, with the latest at the time of writing being the Nintendo Switch release of Boulder Dash 30th Anniversary. The official website has a nicely comprehensive history for you to enjoy at your leisure.

The astute among you will note that there are more than 30 years between 1984 and 2020. That’s because this port in particular also goes back a few years, too. Let’s take a closer look.

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Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z: H.E.R.O.

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Activision were a prolific developer back in the days of the Atari 2600 and Atari 8-bit computers, with many of their most well-regarded games making the jump from one platform to the other.

One particularly beloved example is H.E.R.O., a game that some see as a spiritual precursor to open-structure 2D platform games such as Metroid.

Whether or not you believe that, the adventures of Roderick “R.” Hero remain a jolly good time even today, so let’s go have some fun!

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Psikyo Shooting Stars, Puzzlers, Switch

Gunbarich: It’s Flippin’ Psikyonoid

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2001’s Gunbarich was one of Psikyo’s last games before they merged with X-Nauts in 2002 — and the last title in the Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo collection for Nintendo Switch.

It wasn’t one of their last shoot ’em ups, however, because despite technically being part of the Gunbird series in the loosest possible sense (it has the word “Gun” in the title and also features a cutesified version of recurring Gunbird mascot character Marion the witch) it’s not actually a shoot ’em up at all.

Nope; Gunbarich represents Psikyo turning its hand to that most venerable of genres: the ol’ bat and ball. Let’s take a closer look!

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