Tag Archives: retro games

Psikyo Shooting Stars, Shmups, Switch

Zero Gunner 2-: Making a Classic Affordable

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Anyone interested in collecting video games has doubtless run into the issue of certain titles from previous console generations commanding astronomical prices.

There are numerous reasons this might happen — perhaps the game had a very limited print run; perhaps it only came out in certain territories or perhaps it had problems with distribution when it was current.

One such example is Zero Gunner 2 for the Dreamcast, which, at the time of writing, is going for anywhere between £100 and £200 on eBay. Fortunately, there’s a much cheaper way to get your hands on it today: the Switch version, which is available either on its own via the eShop, or as part of the Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha collection. Let’s have a look!

Continue reading Zero Gunner 2-: Making a Classic Affordable →

Videos

Atari A to Z: The Eliminator

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These days, we tend to expect multi-format releases to have if not complete parity, then certainly as close an experience as possible to one another.

That wasn’t always the case, though, and I can think of few better examples of this that Adventure International’s The Eliminator, which somehow became an entirely different game between its original TRS-80 incarnation and its Atari 8-bit “port” by Steve Coleman.

It’s a fun little blast ’em up, though, so I’m not mad or anything; I just thought it was interesting!

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Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: Countermeasure

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Today’s title from Atari Flashback Classics is one of the few genuine exclusives for the Atari 5200: it’s Countermeasure!

Countermeasure is an interesting strategic shooter in which you navigate a “supertank” through a perilous environment in an attempt to destroy a selection of missile silos. Yes, it’s another “Cold War paranoia” sort of game, but this one has some interesting twists.

Unfortunately, it’s also a pretty strong example of how the emulation of the Atari 5200’s POKEY chip is a bit dodgy in Atari Flashback Classics, which is a bit of a shame — especially considering the fact the emulation of the arcade titles that use it is spot on! Ah well.

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Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy Marathon, Videos

Final Fantasy Marathon: Ultimania – Final Fantasy II #11

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Today’s Final Fantasy II adventure sees Firion and friends continuing their ascent up the Mysidian Tower, one-shotting bosses along the way.

At the tower’s peak, the elusive Ultima Tome, source of a magic spell that didn’t work properly in the original Famicom version of the game — and the first appearance of a spell that would become a series mainstay from hereon.

But wait, isn’t that Minwu? Wasn’t he in the fourth party slot for a wh– oh.

MoeGamer Music

The Music of Atelier, Vol. 1: Atelier Iris – Eternal Mana

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The Atelier series has some wonderful music, and provides many examples of Gust’s sound team producing some of the most distinctive, immediately recognisable soundtracks in the business.

As the Atelier MegaFeature progresses, we’ll stop off every so often to take in some of these classic tunes — and where better to start than with the game we’ve just finished looking at in depth?

Let’s admire some of the lovely themes from the first Atelier game to come West, Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana!

Continue reading The Music of Atelier, Vol. 1: Atelier Iris – Eternal Mana →

Psikyo Shooting Stars, Shmups, Switch

Dragon Blaze: Strikers 1495

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As we’ve already seen with the three Strikers 1945 titles, Psikyo is a developer that is more than happy to make incremental improvements to a formula rather than radically inventing things with each new game.

There are exceptions, of course, but few can deny that the Strikers 1945 formula worked well and could most certainly support a few more games with a few tweaks here and there. Like, say, changing the aesthetic somewhat.

Strikers 1945 III already transplanted the weighty shooting action from post-World War II to the modern day. Dragon Blaze, also part of the Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha collection, zaps us into a fantasy world with neon pink bullets and challenges us to survive another stiff challenge.

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Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Xenon 2 – Megablast

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Possibly the most ’90s game of all-time, The Bitmap Brothers’ Xenon 2: Megablast is a classic shoot ’em up with a solid Atari ST port.

Okay, we don’t get to enjoy the full digital strains of Bomb The Bass’ Megablast (Hip-Hop on Precinct 13) during gameplay, but it’s there in the intro sequence, and was enough to get my video Content ID’d on YouTube! I didn’t know anyone still cared about Bomb the Bass, least of all in 8-bit mono at a woefully low sample rate. AH YEAH.

Anyway, Xenon 2 is indeed a Megablast, and well worth checking out if you want to see how a 16-bit microcomputer handles a chaotic shoot ’em up!

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Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z: Deathchase XE

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A popular thing for modern programmers of retro systems to do is to make new ports of games that previously remained confined to a specific platform.

Such is the case with Deathchase XE, a 2013 entry in the famous ABBUC software contest, which pits modern programmers of Atari systems against one another to produce the most impressive piece of software — be it “useful” or a game.

Deathchase XE reimagines ZX Spectrum classic Deathchase for the Atari, and does a pretty good job of it — even if the competition deadline meant that the creator wasn’t quite able to implement everything he wanted!

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Podcast

The MoeGamer Podcast, Episode 35: New Age of Beatdowns

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Welcome back to the MoeGamer Podcast! Today we’re continuing our discussion from last time, so please give a warm welcome to… err, me, and, of course, 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 and listen on Spotify. Please do at least one of these if you can; it really helps us out!

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

Continue reading The MoeGamer Podcast, Episode 35: New Age of Beatdowns →

Atelier

Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana – Narrative, Themes and Characterisation

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cropped-atelier-megafeature-header-1-8868334This post is one chapter of a MegaFeature!
< Prev. | Contents | Next >

Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana is something of an outlier in the Atelier series as a whole, as we’ve already talked about.

Rather than adopting the established structure of “struggling alchemist works in a workshop to craft items, also there are adventures” it inverts this format to “struggling adventurer explores to discover mysteries of alchemy, also there is crafting”.

This change of structural focus gives the narrative scope to be a much more epic affair than many of the other games in the series — but at the same time it doesn’t abandon one of the series’ core principles. Let’s take a closer look.

Continue reading Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana – Narrative, Themes and Characterisation →