Tag Archives: retro games

Atelier Arland Trilogy, Videos

New Game Plus: Vultures-B-Gone – Atelier Rorona DX #9

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Our “second playthrough” adventures in the world of Atelier Rorona DX continue, this time with an important pest control job!

It seems the Nearby Forest has been infested with vultures, and Rorona is clearly the right person to get rid of them. At least it’s a distraction from the myriad neuroses and mental scars Astrid and her absentee parents have almost certainly left on her by this point…

But surely, surely there must be an easier way of clearing out the vultures than just booping them all on the head with a(n admittedly massively overpowered) stick, right…?

Continue reading New Game Plus: Vultures-B-Gone – Atelier Rorona DX #9 →

Essentials, Shmups

Shmup Essentials: Exzeal

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Triangle Service is not exactly what you’d call a household name in the shoot ’em up sector, but over the years they’ve been quietly beavering away to produce some enjoyable, addictive games.

Probably their most well-known output is their Zeal series, which consists of XIIZeal (actually a port of a PS2-era shoot ’em up called XII Stag), ΔZeal (pronounced “Deltazeal”, not “Trianglezeal”, as I referred to it for a long time), Trizeal and Exzeal — but you may also have stumbled across their more unusual titles such as Shmups Skills Test and Minus Zero at some point in the past.

Today we’re going to take a look at Exzeal, released for Xbox 360 as part of the Shooting Love. 200X compilation (which, pro-tip, is not region-free in its physical incarnation, unlike many other Xbox 360 shmups — including its stablemate Shooting Love. 10-shuunen) and subsequently for PC via Steam.

Continue reading Shmup Essentials: Exzeal →

Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Airball

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There are some games in which it feels absolutely impossible to get anywhere meaningful… but where you still feel you’re having a good time regardless.

One such example is Airball for the Atari ST, a strange isometric adventure in which you play an unfortunate young individual who crossed paths with an evil wizard with a penchant for turning people into rubber balls.

Can you escape from the wizard’s mansion? It has over 150 rooms, you know…

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

Videos, Warriors Wednesday

Warriors Wednesday: One Foxy Lady – Warriors Orochi #32

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The Shu campaign of Warriors Orochi is now well underway as Zhao Yun kicks off his efforts to find his lost master Liu Bei.

Well, I say that; I kicked him out of the party in favour of trying out newcomer Ginchiyo Tachibana, who I unlocked at the end of last week’s mission; turns out she’s rather fun, so sorry Zhao Yun, but you’re on the bench for now.

Hit the jump to see today’s mission… featuring a guest appearance from the biggest wannabe pimp in Sengoku-era Japan.

Continue reading Warriors Wednesday: One Foxy Lady – Warriors Orochi #32 →

Essentials, Racers

Racer Essentials: Split/Second

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With my Sunday Driving playthrough of Black Rock Studio’s excellent Split/Second now at an end, it’s time to take a final, summative look back at one of my favourite racers of all time.

Split/Second, like its contemporary and rival Blur, was a victim of a combination of factors: poor marketing, arrogant publishers and an overall gaming landscape that was somewhat in flux. As such, while those who took a chance on it back in the day tend to look back on it rather fondly now, it doesn’t get nearly the recognition it deserves.

Let’s change all that, shall we?

Continue reading Racer Essentials: Split/Second →

Videos

Atari A to Z: Fire Chief

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Here’s one I vividly remember from back in the day… but for which there’s a surprising lack of information about online!

Fire Chief was developed by Tim Huntington and released through English Software, who we’ve already seen a couple of times on Atari A to Z. Beyond the fact it was included on one of English Software’s Atari Smash Hits compilations (number 4, to be precise), there’s not a lot more that can be said from a historical perspective — even its original box art (and/or if it was ever released as a standalone title!) remains seemingly lost to time.

Oh well. We’d better just take a good hard look at how it plays then, huh? Hold on to your hats, this one goes like the clappers!

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

Essentials, SNK

SNK Essentials: Fantasy

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In the same year as the excellent Vanguard, SNK’s 6502-based “Rockola” hardware played host to an altogether different kind of game.

Fantasy was a rather unusual game. Eschewing the usual spaceships and aliens in favour of a distinctly more “human” setup, the game actually made an effort to tell a story as it progressed. An extremely simple story, yes, but exceedingly ambitious considering this was 1981.

HOW ARE YOU? I’M FINE, THANK YOU. AAAAAAHHHHHH.

Continue reading SNK Essentials: Fantasy →

Split/Second, Sunday Driving, Videos

Sunday Driving: Out With a Bang (Finale) – Split/Second #12

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This is it! This is what it’s all been building up towards: the season finale of Split/Second!

Despite some occasionally questionable performance, I’ve managed to make it to the final episode on the top spot of the Championship table… question is, can I finish the season and maintain my winning position?

Hit the jump to find out how it all ends…

Continue reading Sunday Driving: Out With a Bang (Finale) – Split/Second #12 →

Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: Fire Truck

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If, in 1978, you ever entertained any childish fantasies of being a fireman, then Atari had the video game for you!

Fire Truck was an unusual spin on the top-down driving game in which you took control of a distinctly retro (even at the time) fire engine on its way to deal with some sort of flame-related emergency. The fire truck has limited fuel and thus is unable to ever get to its destination, but at least you can score some points along the way! Because as we all know, real firemen are rated according to how close to the emergency they got.

Obviously this is mostly made up; the “fire truck” concept is actually an excuse to provide some interesting and unusual two-player cooperative driving gameplay, in which one player steers the cab of the truck and the other the trailer. You can play it single-player too, but for maximum amusement, bring a friend.

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

Atelier Arland Trilogy, New Game Plus, Videos

New Game Plus: Ghosts Don’t Have Feet – Atelier Rorona DX #8

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It’s time for our weekly visit to the kingdom of Arland, as our New Game Plus runthrough of Atelier Rorona DX on Nintendo Switch continues!

We’re well into the game’s second year now, and all sorts of interesting things are happening. Rorona is still devastatingly overpowered, however; can no-one provide her with a decent fight? She’s the Lu Bu of the Atelier world at this point.

Hit the jump to see how today’s crafting, gathering and Puni-splattering went.

Continue reading New Game Plus: Ghosts Don’t Have Feet – Atelier Rorona DX #8 →