Tag Archives: retro games

Atari A to Z Flashback: Asteroids (2600)

It’s that time again: the time when we strap ourselves into a small triangle and blast some space rocks into increasingly smaller space rocks until they disappear.

Yes, it’s Asteroids again, this time in its Atari 2600 incarnation. This was a well-regarded port at the time of original release, and noteworthy from a historical perspective for being one of the first games to make use of “bank-switching”, allowing for higher-capacity cartridges that made use of more data. Asteroids for 2600 is twice the size of earlier 2600 games at a mighty 8K!

It also offers “66 video games”. Can’t say better value than that, can you? Even if there’s actually only 33 video games, and they’re all very similar to one another…

Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.

Minotaur Arcade vol. 1: Minter Classics Return

I admire pretty much anyone capable of making a game. I know there are lots of tools out there that make it much more accessible than it once was, but for me, game makers still work a certain form of magic.

I particularly admire those who have been making games since the early days of home computing, in many cases directly programming the computer’s hardware using machine code in order to wring as much power out of those poor beasts as possible.

And I especially admire Jeff Minter, who was doing this back in the days of the 8-bit Atari, and is still going strong today.

Continue reading Minotaur Arcade vol. 1: Minter Classics Return

Final Fantasy Marathon: I Love Having Legs – Final Fantasy I #15

Freshly minted as full-on heroes after Bahamut’s ministrations, the powered-up Warriors of Light resume their quest to illuminate the four crystals and save the world from the Four Fiends.

But the path onwards isn’t terribly clear; some investigation is obviously required, beginning with a strange town on the northern continent that appears to play host to people who are very excited about having legs.

Hmm! What could it all mean?

Atari ST A to Z: Borrowed Time

“Sam, you’re a dead man.” And how; Activision’s Borrowed Time, an “illustrated text adventure” from 1985, really, really, really wants you dead.

An early game from Interplay with involvement from Brian “Wasteland” Fargo, Borrowed Time is an early attempt to break out of the pure text format of adventure games with a graphical, mouse-driven interface. It’s not quite a full-on point and click adventure just yet, but it’s a first step in that direction.

It’s also a monstrously difficult game, fond of murdering its protagonist at regular intervals right from the very outset. You’re doing well if you manage to survive just leaving your office for the day…

Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.

Warriors Wednesday: Wei Warriors vs Orochi – Warriors Orochi #59

This is it! Almost, anyway. The forces of Wei (and friends) are finally ready to take the battle to Orochi.

Each of the final battles in the four Warriors Orochi campaigns unfold similarly, but with various differences in the small events that occur during the battle itself. Ultimately, though, the goal is always the same: open the way to Orochi, then beat his ass down once and for all. Or at least until the next game, anyway.

Will the power of Wei prevail? Of course it will, but humour me, at least… next time around it’s the grand finale!

Atari A to Z: Hijack!

We’ve come across English Software a few times previously on this series; they were a real mainstay of the Atari 8-bit scene throughout the ’80s.

Over their lifetime, they released a wide variety of games — some of which, like Elektra Glide, have an enduring legacy of being well-regarded, even if their flaws are all the more apparent from a modern perspective.

And then they also released stuff like Hijack!, which isn’t a bad game so much as it’s a relatively unremarkable one. It’s still fun for five or ten minutes at a time, though, so let’s take to the skies and rescue some VIPs!

Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.

Around the Network

Hello everyone! It’s the end of another week, so time for another one of them thar roundup type posts.

I’ve been ill this week, but I’ve been doing what I can to keep things ticking along. I think I’ve mostly mended now; a particularly fiery portion of noodles yesterday and a Chinese takeaway this evening have helped a great deal. Back on the straight and narrow with the diet tomorrow!

All right, enough about me, let’s check out what you might have missed this week.

Continue reading Around the Network

Cubixx: White Lines Blowin’ Through My Mind

Over the years, numerous classic arcade games have been remade, recycled and reimagined in various different ways. Some get this treatment more than others.

While Taito’s line-drawing action puzzler Qix has been by no means immune to this phenomenon — indeed, on more than one occasion by Taito themselves — it’s not a formula we see experimented with quite as much as, say, the classic space shooters of yore — or the twin-stick blasting of Robotron 2084 in particular.

It’s even rarer that we see a reimagining quite as inventive as what we have in Laughing Jackal’s Cubixx, a game that began its life as a PlayStation Mini in 2009, subsequently got HD-ified in 2011, and which has now been resurrected once again for everyone’s favourite “I wish every game was on this platform” console, the Nintendo Switch. Let’s take a look.

Continue reading Cubixx: White Lines Blowin’ Through My Mind

Atari ST A to Z: Alcatraz

It’s back to “A” again for the Atari ST series, and it’s another technically impressive title from Infogrames.

Alcatraz is the sequel to Hostages (or The Embassy Mission as it’s known in some territories on some platforms) and is very much a game built around two-player cooperative gameplay. So much so, in fact, that they didn’t really bother to make a proper single-player mode — when playing solo you have to take control of both “players” yourself!

It’s a cool-looking, atmospheric game… but if you’re going to give it a go for yourself I strongly recommend bringing a friend!

Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.

Warriors Wednesday: Just a Quickie – Warriors Orochi #58

It’s nice when things go your way for once, isn’t it?

In the first instance of that happening for quite some time in this Warriors Orochi playthrough, Cao Pi, Nene and Xiahou Dun all find it remarkably straightforward to struggle their way through Nan Zhong and deal another significant blow to Orochi’s forces.

It’s nice when you get a clear, quick, simple, decisive victory like this, as it’s good motivation to keep going! And there’s not long to go until we are well and truly done, once and for all! We’re coming for you, Orochi… again!