We’ve made it! The final battle… for this campaign, anyway.
Yes, today we reach the climactic final showdown of the Samurai campaign in Warriors Orochi and face the snake god himself in single combat.
Well, okay, we bring along all our friends and pound on him so much he can’t fight back. Even the great warriors of history weren’t above using schoolyard tactics.
Continue reading Warriors Wednesday: Samurai Warriors vs Orochi – Warriors Orochi #14
Kick, punch, it’s all in the mind! Pushing diagonally backwards and up while holding the fire button to swing your sword, however? Somewhat less intuitive…
Enter Mastertronic’s Ninja from 1986. This was a game developed by Steve Coleman (who was previously responsible for Pharaoh’s Curse, which we’ll be coming to in a few weeks) that combines open-world 2D adventuring with a fusion of one-on-one fighting and beat ’em up mechanics to produce something altogether unique.
Ninja was a game of “firsts” for me growing up. It was the first time I saw a ninja and learned what it was. It was the first time I saw (and learned the name of) a lot of pieces of traditional Japanese architecture such as torii gates. And it was one of the first games I played where fighting mechanics were a little more complex than simply mashing the fire button to do a single type of attack. It’s still pretty fun, too… though it puts up a lot more of a fight than I remember!
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Well, it’s been a fun ride, but I think I’m going to call time on my Auto Modellista career… for now, anyway.
I’ve reached a point in the game where I just don’t seem to have the right combination of cars, parts and raw skills to be able to pass the challenges I’m presented with. And so after today’s attempts, in which I experiment with a few different cars to see what difference they might make to my performance, I think it’s time to move on.
Hit the jump to see exactly what led me to this conclusion… and if you know this game well and have any suggestions on how I might be able to progress, I’ll gratefully hear them!
Continue reading Sunday Driving: I’m At My Limit – Auto Modellista #5
Sometimes you feel nostalgia for something not because it was “good”, but because you associate it with happy times.
One such example of this from among the library of Atari ST games I’ve played over the years is Eidersoft’s public domain title Haunted House, a pretty terrible platform game that is essentially a take on the Jet Set Willy formula. Explore, collect things, try not to die.
Atrocious collision detection, the worst run cycle you’ll ever see and the fact it might not even be possible to actually finish the damn thing doesn’t stop me thinking quite fondly of it, however, because I will forever associate it with pleasant memories of childhood. Ahh, simpler times…
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We’re nearly there! On the Samurai Warriors campaign, that is.
Yes, it’s the penultimate mission of the first phase of our Warriors Orochi playthrough, meaning that next time around we get to wail on ol’ snake boy himself for the first time.
After a bit of off-camera unlocking of passive abilities, things are going pretty well for the crew. Hit the jump to see how today’s mission went.
Continue reading Warriors Wednesday: The God of War’s Windmill Blade – Warriors Orochi #13
Do you beat games? I do.
Speaking to a lot of game-playing friends in person and online, it transpired that relatively few people I know seem to start a game and see it through to completion in the same way as I do — either playing a bit and then endlessly starting again to try different character builds or starting conditions, or simply hopping from new game to new game as they’re released without ever really getting anywhere in any of them.
One of the things you miss out on if you don’t beat games is the fact that many of them have plenty more stuff to do after you see the credits roll for the first time. So, well, I figured given that my YouTube channel is settling into a nice rhythm with its Atari A to Z, Warriors Wednesday and Sunday Driving videos… why don’t we take the time to explore that aspect of gaming specifically?
Continue reading New Game Plus: That One Perfect Shot – Project Zero #1
Things are getting noticeably more difficult as we approach the conclusion of the Samurai campaign in Warriors Orochi.
Today’s mission sees our intrepid heroes facing off against a selection of powerful foes, including “wild man” Keiji Maeda, who threatens to break Xiao Qiao in half (“but who will put me back together again?!”). But help is at hand in the form of “God of War” Kenshin Uesugi and his longstanding rival, Shingen Takeda’s formidable moustache. And the warrior attached to it, I guess.
How do things go? Hmm… take a look.
Continue reading Warriors Wednesday: The Solid Whack You Can Deliver with Wood – Warriors Orochi #12
AUTOOOOO MODELIIIIISTAAAAA!
Yes, it’s that time when we strap in and go for a bit of a drive, once again in Capcom’s beautiful 2002 “Gran Turismo lite” affair, Auto Modellista.
Today we take on some tougher challenges, and either start to hit the limits of what my dear little Yaris has to offer… or perhaps my own skill ceiling. Hit the jump to see what happened.
Continue reading Sunday Driving: More Faster Than I Was – Auto Modellista #3
Ahhh… I knew it wouldn’t last.
After last week’s joyful celebrations of clearing a mission first time… today we more than make up for that good performance with a series of unfortunate and crushing defeats.
But still, as long as we learn from our mistakes, it’s okay to mess up once or twice, right…?
Continue reading Warriors Wednesday: Mistakes Were Made – Warriors Orochi #11
Today’s Atari ST game is a good example of the sort of technically impressive titles that came from the development company Hewson.
Probably best known for their impressive platformer Nebulus (known on some platforms in some regions as Tower Toppler), Hewson was a company that became renowned for its visually striking games, making use of a variety of techniques to provide the illusion of pushing the hardware “beyond its limits”.
Eliminator sees the company turning its hand to the quasi-3D effect of late ’80s racing games… and then layering a brutally challenging bit of shoot ’em up action atop it. I also have fond memories of it for admittedly strange and anecdotal reasons that are little to do with the game itself…
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