Tag Archives: top-down

ADK Damashii, Neo Geo

Ninja Commando: Tiger and Dragon (And Eagle)

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ADK’s Ninja Combat is, as we’ve previously established, a game that is fun in principle but somewhat lacking in execution due to its extremely questionable difficulty balancing.

Two years afterΒ Ninja CombatΒ helped to launch the Neo Geo, ADK returned to all things ninja with a spiritual successor. EnterΒ Ninja Commando,Β which brought with it a shift in perspective from side-on to top-down, and a much more reasonable challenge for your average player — albeit one that still gets pretty tough in its latter levels!

Ninja CommandoΒ has been rereleased a few times over the years, and also forms part of theΒ ADK DamashiiΒ collection for PlayStation 2, which is the version we’re primarily concerned with today. Let’s take a closer look!

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Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Ikari Warriors

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SNK had some top-notch arcade hits throughout the ’80s and ’90s, and many of them came home in one form or another.

One great example wasΒ Ikari Warriors,Β which saw several different home ports over the years. The one we’re concerned with today is Elite’s Atari ST version, which remains surprisingly true to the arcade original despite lacking SNK’s iconic “loop lever” control scheme.

It’s a solid top-down run-and-gun that still holds its own well today, and back then it demonstrated that the ST was more than capable of providing a convincing “arcade at home” experience!

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

Atari A to Z, 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 TruckΒ 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 closeΒ 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.

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z: Time Bandit

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I love it when game developers get creative. This is not an altogether unusual sight these days, of course, but back in the early to mid ’80s, it was always a real treat to see someone step outside of genre “norms”.

Such was the case withΒ Time BanditΒ by Bill Dunlevy and Harry Lafnear, a top-down action adventure with elements of text adventures, role-playing games,Β Pac-ManΒ and all manner of other goodness. While superficially resemblingΒ GauntletΒ — which actually came outΒ afterΒ Time BanditΒ was fully developed — there’s a hell of a lot of depth here, and some fiendish puzzles to unravel.

If you want a game that pretty much sums up what the Atari ST gaming experience is all about, you can do far worse than giveΒ Time BanditΒ the, uh, time of day.

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

Essentials, Neo Geo

Neo Geo Essentials: Shock Troopers

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“The eight soldiers get to attack the wicked terrorists!!”

So ran the promotional blurb on the arcade flyer for SNK’s Shock Troopers, a well-regarded installment in the Neo Geo library developed by Saurus and originally released in 1997 to both home- and arcade-based Neo Geo systems.

This is not by any means a unique setup for a video game, particularly an arcade title from the era, but what makes Shock Troopers truly special is its execution. And its presentation. And, well, everything.

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