Acting Up for an N64
Console Yourself
On March 1st, 1997, I fell in love. Fifteen years later, and I’m still pining over her.
It was one of those instant attractions, love at first sight some might say. She had that special something; that natural, almost unexplainable beauty. To make matters worse, all my mates were after her, too. But it would take three long, arduous years until I could call her my own. Three loved-up years of dreaming, yearning and wanting.
Against all odds, I managed to endure. And thankfully, she was totally worth it.
Sonic 1 being remastered for iOS, Android
Sonic 1 is set to arrive later this month for both Android and iOS devices. Read More
Pinball Alley
Pinball Alley: Pin*Bot
1987 feels forever ago. Walk Like an Egyptian was popular on the radio. Married With Children debuted on a relatively new television network that Fox had launched. The Iran-Contra affair was seemingly on everyone’s mind.
Me? I was a goofy 15 year-old high school sophomore and was still very much an arcade rat. I spent hours on weekends, and even a little time during the week, just walking around and watching people play, trying to decide what to spend my money on. The arcade that I frequented the most was in Chicopee, MA inside the Fairfield Mall, and the arcade was set up with coin-op machines in the front and two banks of pinball machines in the back. I spent a lot of time playing High Speed, which I’d become adept at (and also became an NES game, which I’ll be covering soon)… but one day, I spotted a new machine alongside it: Pin*Bot.
Bitter Without Continues
White-knuckled, cat killing action!
So Lucasarts died the other day. A lot of people have been sharing their thoughts on the subject of Disney collapsing the 30 year old game developer that brought us the SCUMM engine, a bunch of great Star Wars games, a bunch of not great Star Wars games, and a bunch of games that not a lot of people talk about anymore (when they really should, because there’s some great games out there that a lot of people forget, or don’t even know Lucasarts had anything to do with..)
Review A Great Game Day – Solaris (Atari 2600)
When I first heard of Review a Good Game Day, I immediately knew what game I would be reviewing. From the first time I ever played Solaris for the Atari 2600 to today, I’ve always believed this it is the best game ever made for that system. Here’s why:
Background
If many of you aren’t familiar with Solaris, even those among you who did grow up with a 2600 in the house, it might have something to do with the fact that it was released on July 25th, 1986, which means many of you had already been helping a plumber save a princess on your NES for nearly a year. Luckily for me, who only got an NES in 1989, and gamers everywhere, Douglas Neubauer (the man behind the massively influential Star Raiders, to which Solaris is ostensibly a sequel) was still programming games for it.
Why would anyone bother to make a game for a dying console? Apparently, while Neubauer doesn’t know why Atari bothered releasing more games for the 2600, he was working only a few miles away from Atari’s headquarters at the time, so it looks like he just figured “Why not?” He had pitched the game years earlier, and Atari wanted it to be called “The Last Starfighter” as a tie-in to the movie; however, one week after they flew him down for a screening of the movie, Jack Tramiel bought the company and pretty much laid everyone off. To Neubauer, it looked like the end for Atari and video games. Yet, two years later, he gets a call and just like that, Atari bought the game we now know as Solaris.
Fan Game: Sonic the Hedgehog 3D
The fan community is at it again, this time with a Sonic the Hedgehog game created on the famous Build engine.
Duke Nukem Forever 2013
Disappointed in what Duke Nukem forever turned out to be? Well, turns out a group of modders have solved that issue with a decidedly retro approach.
1 More Podcastle
030 – The Internet is a Fad
Get ready for an episode of mass confusion sponsored by the Land of the Rising Sun! Each podcaster has picked a retro game that never made it out of Japan.
GoG Weekend Sale – D&D Galore
All your favourite Dungeons and Dragons games are up to 80% off.
For this weekend only, ten of your favourite D&D game are on sale via GoG. Titles include the popular Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale series, as well as Planetscape: Torment. The bundle works out to 10 games for $21.10, so go pick them up if you have a penchant for old RPG’s
Official press release can be found: here.
Free Game: Transport Tycoon Deluxe
Transport Tycoon Deluxe is here, and it’s free, via the power of HTML5.
A Loveletter to Jedi Knight
The year was 1997, and my Star Wars obsession was in full force. The Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition was released in a VHS boxset, the original trilogy was being shown in theatres, and a game called Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II had just been released.
N64 Connoisseur
Attack of the Variants
When I last left you, I was sharing the irony that some of the most expensive games to collect for the N64 were some of the worst for the system. In that post, I noted that the gray variant of Turok: Rage Wars was insanely more expensive than the standard black cartridge. This was something that was not uncommon with cartridges. For various reasons, a lot of different games had a variant version. The game itself was usually no different, yet the cost of one of those variants now is significantly higher. As a follow up to my last post, I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of these variants and the cost difference that might surprise you.
Another World – 20th Anniversary Edition hits Steam
Another World, also known as Out of This World in North America and Outer World in Japan, has been released via Steam in a special 20th anniversary edition Read More
The Fair Shake
Boogerman: A Pick and Flick Adventure
Apologies for my absence this past week. You see, I attended PAX East, as I have for the past three years. Unfortunately, this year, I discovered what ‘PAX Pox’ is. Ugh. As I type this I’m still making diplomatic contact with small life forms that I cough up from my lungs. It just so happened that while I was laid up on the couch, my girlfriend discovered Boogerman for the Super Nintendo. I’m not sure if she was implying something or not.
The Retro Critic
Mickey Mania
Now I’m not one to usually play AND promote Disney games but, you know what? When Disney games are good, they are sublimely good.
Take Aladdin on the Genesis for example: I played that game so much, the movie almost seemed lame in comparison after a while. And I loved the movie! Very rarely have I played a game based on an animated feature and felt it captured what made the source material great but Aladdin was spot-on.
I’ll get to that one another time, though.
In the meantime: let’s talk Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures Of Mickey Mouse.