Commodore Vic 20 Top 10 – Sort Of

Tags

8-Bit, Commodore, Retro, Vic 20, Vic20

My rules … I must have played the game a lot.
This is really a favourites list, these aren’t the necessarily the “best” games.

OK. Having started this, I’m now going to change it.
It will now be several Vic 20 Top 5’s. Why?
Two reasons: it isn’t quite fair to compare a 19.5kb game to a 3.5kb game, and ten games wasn’t enough 🙂

Top 5 Vic 20 Cartridge Games

Donkey Kong
This was one of the last Vic 20 games that I purchased and I hadn’t previously played a game by Atarisoft on the Vic, so it was a something of a shock to discover possibly the best “sprite” handling in any Vic game. The game plays quickly and feels smooth and “arcadey”. There is almost none of the usual colour-clash on show. There are 6 (I think) different level layouts and even the sounds add to the arcade-like feel. A really really impressive effort — hard, fair, unforgiving, and playable. If you have a Vic, track this huge purple box down.

 

Radar Rat Race
The game starts with 3 enemy rats, 10 bits of cheese, several static cats, a maze, and a radar. The radar shows the location of the cheese and the enemy rats, but not the static cats or the maze itself. Your objective is to eat the cheese and avoid death. Subsequent levels add new mazes and extra rats. There are even “speed run” levels where you have a small amount of time to eat the cheese without moving enemies … not as easy as it may sound. You only defence is a “sparkle fart” which disorientates any chasing rats that fly into it. Lots of fun, and even the girls enjoyed it, but it was too hard for them to complete a level.

 

Gorf
One of the few “arcade conversions” on the Vic and, like Donkey Kong, you can’t expect too much more from the Vic 20. 4 levels, each involving your flying a ship and shooting upwards. It’s like Space Invaders with a few funny levels. Even a boss – Flag Ship – on levels 4, 8, 12 etc. For its time an advanced shoot ‘em up and a game at least partly responsible for my love of the genre. And it is “frog” spelled backwards. And, in the arcade version, if you listened carefully, the speech was poor enough to announce loudly “insert groin”. Coins work better, I assure you.

 

Omega Race
A mildly curious shooter where your score is in the centre of the screen and all the action happens around it. Other than that twist, this is basically Asteroids. Where it scores heavily though, is in terms of playability and replay-ability. It’s one of those games where you die and you know it was your fault, and that makes you want to play it again. In fact, I played this more times in succession than I did any other Vic game mentioned in this blog. The graphics deserve a mention too, while simple in terms of colour and content, they move very smoothly which is essential of a game that relies on precise play. Worth the £3.99 I paid even now … would make a genuinely fun HD upgrade. Where are Bally Midway now?!

 

Cosmic Cruncher vs Sargon Chess 2
The first four cartridge games that I have mentioned are a clear cut above these two and the rest of my cart collection. Choosing the 5th game was tricky so I copped out and chose two.
Cosmic Cruncher is a playable enough pac-man clone with a few levels and no obvious flaws. Its rival is Sargon Chess 2. This is quite special really, a fully AI chess program in such a tiny amount of memory that beat me. I’m not great at chess, but I can often beat the easiest level or two. So worthy of a mention in terms of impressiveness. In fact sod it, don’t even look at Cosmic Cruncher, get Sargon Chess 2 instead.

 

Top 5 Vic 20 Expanded RAM Games

The Perils of Willy (16k) – Software Projects
This is Manic Miner with 33 levels. By that, I mean that you must complete one level to progress to the next – in Jet Set Willy, you could go where you wished (skills permitting). For the humble Vic 20 the graphics are OK, picture a chunked up, fatter, version of the Spectrum. None of the levels featured in the actual Manic Miner; I guess with the resolution being so much lower it simply could be done with any degree of accuracy. And accuracy is the operative word with any of the Miner Willy games – pixel perfect jumping has to be mastered. This is a flawless version of a timeless class, as good as ever it could have been. But rusty nail hard … I never did manage to get further than the first dozen or so levels – and that took some doing!

Wunda Walter (16k) – Interceptor Micros
Parallax scrolling. Crazy fast game, fairly tough to grasp, but rewarding and fun. The premise is simple, you control a fat balloon-type creature named in the title, and you hold the fire button to rise, and release it to fall. You may move left and right while the screen automatically scrolls horizontally. There are pellets to collect, on the ground, but while the main aim is survival you don’t progress until you’ve collected enough pellets. There are four “zones” and then the game wraps, standard fare for a game of this era.
Jet-Pac (8k) – Ultimate Play the Game
While the Vic 20 may have a horribly low resolution, its CPU can whip along rapidly enough which is needed in this game as the software sprites rip about. There is colour-clash that the Speccy version is jealous of, but when the game plays this well it is easily forgiven. Another quality game from the past that still plays well today. Though the 16k Spectrum bad boy featured 8 different levels, the lowly 11.5K version only had 4. I have no idea why they didn’t opt for all 8 levels and make it a 16K game. Time pressure maybe, who knows? Anyway, it’s a pity as it’s the only slight downer of an otherwise fine conversion. Go Vic20!!!

 

A.C.E. – Air Combat Emulator (16k)
‘WARNING: Due to the realism of ACE some players may experience air-sickness.’
Really?! That’s what it says on the back of the box! Unbelievable – well, maybe not, but certainly daft. This gets a special mention in part because the task taken on board is so stupidly difficult. Build a (bare bones) flight sim into a machine with less memory than a modern toaster. And less graphical prowess than a fridge. OK, so viewing the enemy planes won’t scare you and the explosions don’t fill the screen with pain. But hey, you can pitch & roll, and fire at stuff that you hardly ever see. I guess in some respects it is more realistic than some modern easy games! To get anywhere near what they did with this game is stunning. I salute them and you should too. Be impressed not by the games, but by how good the games are given the constraints of the hardware.
Matrix (8k) – Llamasoft
Oh, Geoff Minter. This is Gridrunner’s big brother. The unexpanded game (mentioned below) returns but with more variety, crazy bonus levels, and camels. The extra 8K gave Geoff the chance to turn a simple classic into a bigger and better game. Everything still feels tight and correct, there’s just more to do. A perfect sequel, not too much changes, but clear improvements are there. Come on!

Honourable/Dishonourable Mentions:

DEATH RACE (8k) vs Kong (16k)
Death race, possibly, has you gasping at the screen shot. But don’t worry, those houses don’t whizz smoothly by, or even move. That said, this game is fun and a great effort. There is a genuine feeling of speed and there are precious few attempts at a racing game of any kind on the Vic. Well played them folks at Atlantis! Now Kong, by contrast, is a game type that has many clones on the Vic. And this is one of the few that uses 16K. And it plays like a spiteful warthog. How they could make it so bad when companies like Atarisoft show such quality with their cart?!

 

Top 5 Vic 20 Unexpanded Games 

From memory, these are the contenders, the games that I expect to come out on top.
The tides of time will surely have changed things, won’t they?!

Rockman – Mastertronic
Not to be confused with Megaman (or Rockman) on the NES. While this is a rip off, it rips off Boulderdash and does it rather well. The game instantly gets kudos for the impressive full-screen mode, and the large number of levels (twenty, I think). You need to get the diamonds, but rocks fall once there is space under them. You can push rocks onto monsters to kill them, which is a lot harder than it sounds – the whole game plays very quickly. A tremendous challenge to clear even a few levels, and a truly astonishing game to fit in 3583 bytes!
Gridrunner – Llamasoft
Geoff Minter. Fast stuff. There’s a grid. There are things on it. And there’s plenty of shooting. It’s great. Really fast, really simple – just the way great old games should be. Move about, dodge, shoot all the enemies. It’s pure blasting fun. And there are only so many times I will repeat myself. A cracking title.

RIP – Mastertronic
Like Rockman, same programmers I’d guess, it uses a lovely full screen mode. Also, it features about 20 levels. RIP is much easier to play though. Run round the levels, nap the diamond on each map, shoot the monsters. The diamond appears randomly, so on occasion it is impossible to reach — not to worry, exit the level and re-enter it. Fast and fun. Another great title from Mastertronic.
Cave Fighter – Bubble Bus
From memory, this game is massive. I think it’s a multi-load! Will replay before I write more!  Whoa … my memory sure cocked up here! This game IS a multi-load, but boy it is flawed! The graphics are OK, the movement of sprites is smooth, but the game is broken by THE WORST collision detection I have seen in 30 years of gaming. The 2nd screen, above, shows a bubble near the hero — and it kills me — at that range. And, seriously, every monster is that bad. I clearly remember once getting quite far, but unless you are able to able to steer clear of each monster by a good inch, you’re snookered. A potentially great game ruined 😦
Crazy Cavey
Yet another Donkey Kong clone. You know, ladders and a few collectables. OK, there are no barrels, but hey, it looks like there should be. Now that’s out of the way, the game is really great. Full-screen is used, but only for time and score, and all animation is smooth and it feels very much a polished, well produced title. Collect the keys, jump the gaps, dodge the beasts, beware of glue (it sticks you for a scary second or two) and exit at the door. 4 levels, and a we have another winner from Mastertronic.
Mega Vault
The best Vic-20 loading screen ever made is shown above. Seriously – there aren’t many to choose from. This is a two-screen game where you have to get a key, and return to the start. But these are complex levels with a lot going on, and the size of the game can be forgiven. What there is, is very well put together and the whole game feels right. It’s the kind of design that could have made the world’s greatest LCD game. Very much recommended.

DoDo Lair
Oh man, I remember ACHING for this game back in the day. The box cover was so damn cool and it was by Software Projects (the Manic Miner / Jet Set Willy people) so my desire was burning strong. Oddly, I couldn’t remember anything about the game. So, with curiosity, I loaded it up. Oh dear. I wondered if it had worked. It is as mess. Imagine a game written by Geoff Minter’s drunk uncle, that was then butchered as a squadron of cats trampled over his keyboard as he worked. He didn’t care though, the game appeared to almost work. Scrolling from left to right, you have to randomly shoot before almost randomly dying. Yey. Not. Screen-shots not included as I was hurting too much. Or something.
Snake Pit
Hey, it’s Pac-Man. Without a maze. Yes. Er … what? Ok .. you’re the smiley face and you must eat all the eggs without getting eaten by the snakes. But the snakes are trapped, they can’t eat the eggs. Oh, except the red one. That one will eat eggs, eat you, and free other snakes. When you do managed to clear the eggs, the fun starts. You get to eat the snakes … from the tail end. This bit is really great. Proper fun and dangerous, like any well honed bonus stage. Also, this game has the C64 version on the other side! A cool bonus, if only more games today offered multi-platform-versions. A cool game, not flawed in any way, just not great.
Shamus And Pharaoh’s Curse
These two games are a little odd. They come in big boxes, feature a wild turbo load, claim to run on the unexpanded Vic-20, but only worked when I plugged extra memory in. Weird indeed.

Shamus
A bit of a Robotron clone, shoot the monsters, grab the items and proceed through the levels. What strike you right away is the polish here, the sprites move smoothly, don’t clash horribly, collide accurately and everything works well. Good game design, solid and very clever code is on display. A great achievement.

Pharaoh’s Curse
The platform game to make you realise just how bad Cave Fighter is. Again, great sprite work in evidence here, superb collision and movement. Lots of levels, good layout – but unforgiving at times. Very polished, and if you prefer jumping to shooting, you might like it more than Shamus, but I doubt it.

The Top Five

1. Shamus
2. Rockman
3. Gridrunner
4. Mega Vault
5. Crazy Cavey

So there you go ..
You’ve read my STUPIDLY long Vic 20 nostalgia trip that took almost as long to write as some of the games did to load!

Please chat, insult, and engage.

 

 

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Pokémon Starter Guide

Tags

Alpha Sapphire, JRPG, Move Types, Omega Ruby, Pokémon, Role Playing, Starter Guide

BACKGROUND

What is Pokémon?
Pokémon is a portmanteau word derived from the original Japanese name of the game: Pocket Monsters. It all started back in 1995 – nearly twenty years ago – and it is wholly remarkable how little the core game has changed in all that time. Each Pokémon game involves a young hero, his friends, a team of bad guys, and lots and lots of monsters: which you can defeat in battle or have fighting at your side.

The first goal of the game is to follow the story, defeating bad guys, “gym leaders”, the “elite four”, and usually an additional super-tough cookie. But that’s just the start! If you enjoyed yourself you may feel a strong urge to find all the Pokémon in the game’s region (or country). This is referred to as “completing a Pokédex” – gotta catch ’em all.

THE GAMES

Which game should I buy?
Why are there so many of them?
The “proper” Pokémon games are released in pairs: X/Y, Heart/Gold, Black/White, Ruby/Sapphire, Red/Blue, Diamond/Pearl etc. Each game of a “pair” (for example Ruby and Sapphire) will tell EXACTLY the same story in EXACTLY the same “region” – think of a country in the Pokémon world. The only real difference between Ruby and Sapphire are some of the Pokémon that you can encounter during the game.

For example, each will have a different “Legendary” Pokémon (often the one pictured on the box) and a about dozen other Pokémon that will only appear in Ruby or Sapphire – the other couple of hundred will be the same in both!! The idea being that someone with Ruby will trade unique Pokémon with someone with Sapphire in order to catch all the Pokémon – which is a nice little way of making the game sociable; even if most of the trading is now done on-line instead of with underpowered infra red ports or antiquated link-up cables!

While each pair tells the same story, each different pair will tell a different in a different region, with a different threat to the world’s safety, and an fresh team of baddies. However, some titles have been remade, upgraded and updated, to appear on newer versions of Nintendo’s consoles.

Some story arcs have had a 3rd game published – a kind of “super” version which usually contains all the Pokémon from the other two and a few extras. For example, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl were enhanced in Platinum … if you have Diamond or Pearl there’s no need to get Platinum, but if you don’t have either of them then Platinum is the one to go for!

Confused? You might well be. Here is a summary of the games, each column represents on “story” in the Pokémon world. Assuming you want to experience ALL the Pokémon stories, play through one game in each row!

Red/Blue/Green*(GB) Yellow**(GB) Fire Red/Leaf Green(GBA)
Gold/Silver(GB) Crystal**(GB) Heart Gold/Soul Silver(DS)
Ruby/Sappire(GBA) Emerald**(GBA) Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire(3DS)
Diamond/Pearl(DS) Platinum**(DS)
Black/White (DS)
Black 2/White 2(DS)
X/Y (3DS)

*Red and Green were the names of the original “pair” in Japan, elsewhere they were named Red and Blue.
**One of the “special” versions that enhanced the preceding pair (to the left).
If you want to start on the Pokémon road, grab any one of the 3DS games and you’ll be fine.

THE SPIN OFFS

To further complicate matters Nintendo have released a plethora of “spin off” games. While some of these are perfectly adequate games in their own right, they are certainly not as good as the “proper” Pokémon games. They are often considerably cheaper but, unless you’re simply after all Pokémon you can eat, I can’t honestly recommend them. These games are the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, the Pokémon Rangers games, Pokémon Rumble, Pokémon Link, Pokémon Stadium, Pokémon Battle Revolution, Pokémon Park etc. Don’t get me wrong, they can be fun, but they do not represent a good entry into the world of Pokémon.

GAMEPLAY BASICS

BATTLES!
Pokémon is all about battles but defeated Pokémon aren’t killed; merely knocked out and are soon revived by a visit to a Pokémon centre. Battles are turn-based affairs and each Pokémon can have up to 4 moves; they can be attacking, defensive, or of a stat-boosting variety. Each Pokémon in the battle will choose a move, then each move will occur in turn, with the faster Pokémon likely to go first. This is repeated until all the Pokémon from one team/trainer have been defeated (normally not a long ordeal).

POKéMON TYPES!
All Pokémon have one or two types and each move of a Pokémon is of a single type. At the start of the game most moves are of “normal” type which are “normally effective” against other Pokémon. After a few battles, your first Pokémon will learn a grass/fire/water move depending on its type. Grass moves are “super effective” against water Pokémon, water moves are “super effective” against fire Pokémon, and fire moves are “super effective” against grass Pokémon. This is a neat little triangle and will help you, early on, to gain a significant advantage over your foes. However, Pokémon has MANY types and all of strengths and weakness are not terribly easy to remember. While initially daunting, this chart will really help you (1) realise how deep the gameplay of Pokémon is, and (2) keep one step ahead of most of your foes throughout the game. DESPERATELY DAUNTING TYPE CHART

MOVE TYPES!
You should also be aware that a Grass Pokémon executing a grass move, will perform that grass move at 150% of its normal strength. A fire Pokémon executing a grass move will perform that move at 100% of its normal strength. A water & grass (twin type) Pokémon executing a grass move will perform that move at 125% of its normal strength.

TWIN TYPES!
But is isn’t even that simple! Some Pokémon have 2 types. For example, one could be a Flying and Water type – both of these types are weak to electric attacks, so electric attacks on a fire & water Pokémon will be FOUR TIMES more powerful than normal! Understanding twin types, and how they work, can be critical in the later stages of the game.

STATS!
Pokémon have stats – lots of stats actually – too many to talk about here. But you should know a bit. Each Pokémon has two attack stats: attack and special attack, and two defence stats: defence and special defence. Each move uses either attack or special attack. Some Pokémon have strong special attack stats while other have strong (physical) attack stats, while others still have similar levels of each. Be careful not to give special attacks to your Pokémon that have poor special attack stats. Similarly, attacking a Pokémon with a high special defence with a special attack move won’t do as much damage. You can play perfectly well without paying attention to all of these, but it will explain why some moves perform unexpectedly better than others.

EVOLUTION!
Battle wins provide experience points for the victor and these points equate to an increase in the level, and therefore power, of your Pokémon. These increases may appear small they soon mount up. After a few level increases, your Pokémon may “evolve”. This means that it will turn into a more powerful creature; a good thing. Some Pokémon, however, require a certain item to evolve, or to only evolve in a certain location, or at a certain time of day, or even only after being traded with a friend! The variety here can also be quite daunting, but there are guides to tell you how to evolve each and every Pokémon – and characters in the game’s story will often give you hints.

IN SUMMARY

So those are the main principles, don’t be daunted, leap in and have fun – but be loosely aware of the mechanics in the background. You kids will love it – they’re not violent games and there is a strong ethical sense of right and wrong throughout. Honestly, I’ve been playing games for over 30 years and I can’t recommend this series highly enough. For certain it won’t grab everyone, but it really is worth finding out if you are one of the many of us fall for its many charms!

Captain Commando

Tags

Brawler, Capcom, Captain Commando, Scrolling Beat 'em Up

I love a good brawler. Or a scrolling beat ’em up. You should be familiar with the genre; many folks’ favourite games come from within. Final Fight, Bare Knuckle (aka Streets of Rage), Golden Axe, Dungeons and Dragons, and various others.

There are a few, particularly on the Super Famicom or SNES, that I didn’t play back in the day. The Rushing Beat series, Undercover Cops, Ninja Warriors Again, and Captain Commando, being the highlights. Those games all have something else in common – price. Insanely high prices, in fact. A loose cart of each will most probably cost you the wrong side of £50 ($80). Captain Commando, however, was also released on the Sony Playstation. I had an eBay search going for both versions of this game for a few months, and somehow everyone else in the world forgot to bid on one that sold for $69. Honestly, that is almost 50% cheaper than normal. I felt very lucky.

Anyhow, this game arrived today and I had a brilliant time playing it. I bloody love it … If you have the coins, please do yourself a favour and grab this mad but wonderful game!

It is three player sim! That is fully awesome … I hope to cajole both of my robot daughters into playing it with me one day!

The instruction manual has only this single screen shot! Weird.

Baby Commando! Sure, why not 🙂

Beware the trio of lesbians for they wield electric tuning forks, and they are not afraid to use them. Curiously fetching bunch, too; all called Carol.

This gentleman is tough: interestingly his name seems to be Sh1t Rom Jr.

Turns out a giant sword is pretty effective.

Time for some fun chasing ninjas on motorised surfboards. I’m in.

Now to chase the mad scientist into the sewer! But of course.

One scientist down!

This large lady, with whom I’d have no quarrel, has 2 attacks; one is to hurl you forcefully across the screen and the other is to vomit a pool of purest green at you.

And the last piece of the classic brawler puzzle – the fish-man with extendible claw hands.

SOMEHOW, YOU MUST PLAY THIS GAME!
My day one rating: 9/10.

Tales of Frustration Graces

Tags

dungeon, JRPG, maps, random battles, RPG, strategy, Tales, Tales of Graces, turn-based, Zelda

Tales games.
I should love them. I really should.
I’ve been playing JRPGs for over 20 years.
And I love them.
I love battles and item management.
I even like random battles.
Turn-based and strategy (grid-based) are my favourite types … Zelda is too “actiony” for me.

Tales games have action-based battles, but at their heart they play like a turn-based game. They always feature cool characters, great stories, lovely art, and superb music.

Why then do they make me so cross?
It’s simple.
Or rather, it isn’t.
The battle systems, especially of late, are over-complicated, and any break in play (which happens frequently if you have any semblance of a normal life) means you will most likely forget the subtleties and nuances of the crazy-deep battle more and be reduced to button mashing or setting people to “auto” 😦

There was, in Tales of Graces F – clearly the “F” stands for Frustration, a dungeon that was simple (in concept) yet so samey myself (and my two JRPG daughters) kept losing track of where we were. AND THE INTERNET HAD NO MAP!!! No, really. It’s true. NO MAP. Well, save one that was so hopelessly inadequate it might as well not have been there. There were a few instructions like “up, north, descend, east” etc. But that’s a bit crap if you’ve lost your starting point!

So we made a map and got minced by the boss 😥

Viewpoint – 3rd Level Does Exist

Tags

AES, FM Towns, MVS, Neo Geo, NeoGeo, Viewpoint

About 15 years ago I finally stumped up about £70 (just over $100) for this beautiful isometric shooting game on SNK’s fabled NeoGeo console. I couldn’t get the Japanese version (nicer box art) but I was more than content with the European version because the game was no different.

I loved everything about the game. The type of game is one of my favourites – a shmup – where you control a tiny ship and dodge bullets while shooting waves of enemies. I can’t help it, I’m childish that way.

The graphics are beautiful; the colours are bold, the animation is smooth, and there is a lavish attention to detail. The graphics style is unusual, the game is viewed in “isometric 3D” … SEGA’s Zaxxon was (possibly?) the earliest shooting game to use this perspective. Even now, there are only a handful that do. Parasquad on SEGA’s 32X is one that spring to mind, but that uses what now appears clumsy 3D instead of, the still ever-so-fetching, highly polished 2D sprites of Viewpoint.

The music is very 80s, but screams of fun and somehow works perfectly to set scenes of joyous panic. And the sound effects don’t drown out the tunes … something that can irk me tremendously.

Actually, I lied. I don’t love everything about this game. There is one problem. A pretty big one too. The game is HARD. I mean REALLY BLOODY HARD. I have owned it for 15 years and today, for the first time ever, I reached level 3. LEVEL THREE. That’s really not very far is it? But I was BUZZING. Really pumped as, on my last life, I finally killed that bastard crab at the end of level two. I got so excited I took pictures – not sure if I feared I dreamed it all, or that I would NEVER get there again!

This is the start of level 3. My ship was flashing at the start .. games of this ilk often give you a few second of invulnerability, at the start of the level, when there are no enemies about. Very kind 😦 My previous highest score was about 128,000. Scores don’t really matter in games like this; it’s all about getting past a certain level. But hey 🙂 Level 3.

This big purple robotic slug was brand new. Obviously I had to shoot his (or her?) babies and dive into the black hole behind them.

Somehow, I threaded my way from one “smart bomb” to another and butt-clenched my way through waves of bullets. Did I mention that this was my last life? Meep.

Now this was level 3’s boss. A curious fly that was shooting at me and a rapid centipede like companion that was also shooting at me. I had no idea how their attacks would work. However, I had one trick up my sleeve – if I fired lots of little bullets the game slowed down just enough to give me a fighting chance. And I managed to damage it so that it turned around and showed me his posterior. For reasons of decency, I dare not share that image. Anyway, he killed me. Or his bottom laser did. But I was physically shaking .. so excited after just playing an old-fashioned game. And you know what? I still love Viewpoint. You should too – give it a go, be brave!

My final death score

 

 

 

 

 

Thank goodness for piracy – kind of.

Tags

Android Assault, Bari Arm, Mega CD, Sega CD, SHMUP, shoot 'em up

I have Bari-Arm and it DOES NOT WORK.

The disc appears to be fine, all the music tracks play, yet as soon as I put it into my MEGA-CD the console freezes. The title-screen doesn’t even clear. This is not a region lockout issue. My disc has been buggered and I brought the damn thing so long ago that I can’t remember who to moan at.

I thought that maybe my MEGA-CD drive is a little tired and it can’t read the disc well. So I copied it onto a new shiny blank CD-R via my PC. Without any errors reported. Same problem. Exactly.

So I downloaded a disc image. Bad me. Sod off, I’ve paid for this game and it’s broken. All I can find is the American rom, called Android Assault. Anyhow, the image is weird. There is an ISO file and a bunch of MP3s in a RAR. So I burn the ISO, but it won’t let me add music. Crap. Whatever, I’ll go check if it works. It does!! Hooray. My first ever go and it’s GREAT. Shit though, I bet it’s a truckload better with tunes!

I search for another rom. I find one and this time it’s all inside two nice BIN & CUE files. Burn, baby burn. AND LO… this is me, with my happy face, playing Bari-Arm for the first time. I LOVE IT.

Thank you, piracy.
Kind of.

FM Towns – 20 Years in the Waiting

Tags

After Burner II, Consoles, FM Towns, Fujitsu, Hardware Rotation, Hardware Scaling, Import, Japan, Marty, Retro Gaming, SEGA, Sprites

Some 20 years ago I first saw incredible screen shots, in a magazine, of SEGA’s much loved game “After Burner II”. I had After Burner II on the PC Engine and it was a decent conversion of the impressive arcade original. The trouble was, at the time, none of the home consoles possessed what we called “hardware scaling” – the ability to enlarge or decrease hand-drawn sprites without a tremendous drain on the main CPU. This hardware scaling (and its cousin “hardware rotation” – the ability to rotate sprites without said drain) were key elements in the hardware of SEGA’s arcade machines. These great devices were able to throw sprites effortlessly and smoothly around the screen while leaving the main CPU to cope with all the other demands of gameplay. Home consoles at the time had no such capability and had to swap sprites of varying sizes, and rotations, at carefully timed  intervals to attempt the same effect.

For this reason, after seeing a screenshot of After Burner II, with apparently hardware-scaled sprites, we were astounded, excited, envious, and troubled. How could we get one of the FM Towns computers? How much would it cost to get it shipped? This fantasy slowly faded from the foreground of our minds as we tried to cope with the knowledge that, because our favoured import stores didn’t stock such exotic beauties, we would never be able to own such a device.

As the years past, the FM Towns dream was never quite forgotten, there were more stories of “arcade perfect conversions” and vague whispers about other versions of the FM Towns; all in one super machines, and even a cut-down console-like  contraption called a Marty. The concept became something between a dream and a myth. Off on a tangent, two other items that I didn’t believe were real once upon a time are Phantasy Star 1 on the Megadrive, and the rubbery wonder that is a  Commodore 116.

Sorry for all that drivel, but if you’re still alive, awake, or interested, my hope is that it may suffice as a background to what occurred next.

A year ago, a facebook gentleman (HCK) living in Japan (possibly the best country I’ve never visited) was selling some of his wares (ie, super fantastic wonderful consoles) to gain coin to help a family member. Among the items has was shifting was … you may have sagely guessed … an FM Towns (the Marty version). As my birthday was approaching I decided that I would attempt to gather my funds and buy the device at long last (the price was extremely reasonable). Time passed. Slowly. Nothing showed up. Months went by. Nothing. THEN AT LAST … NEWS!! … it had been sent to the Americas in error! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaagh. No. No NOOOOOO.

It made a second journey. But again, time was the only entity to move. Nothing reached me, or indeed anyone else. That Marty is, extremely sadly, MIA. So, about a month ago, the splendid gent agreed to send a 2nd Marty. We agreed to go via tracked EMS this time, and go halves on shipping. I was very pleased, for he knew not if I had ever received the first Marty, and I knew not if he had ever sent it. This time it would be tracked. This time we’d both know!

The bastards at customs did their absolute best to make a total mockery of EMS’s 3-5 day delivery. That poor, helpless, and defenceless FM Towns Marty was in Coventry, of all places, for longer than I have ever been and FAR longer than is fair to any electrical device. Those pricks also charged a £13.50 “clearance fee” and £27.74 import tax. Anyhow, sod it. I had, in my sweaty paws, a bloody FM Towns!!! And, after all these years, here she is *sniff*

I love my wife for tolerating my fetish.
Love your spouse too, for we are weird!
And I love my FM Towns 😉

ADDED 1 YEAR LATER:
NOW HELP ME CELEBRATE BY GETTING THIS T-SHIRT –
teespring.com/fmtownsmarty

Xbox One – Microsoft’s Endgame

Tags

Filth, Next Box, Rubbish, Stupid Microsoft, Xbox 720, Xbox One, XboxOne

Guest blog from a Charlie of HKCblog.

A lot of gamers seem to have little to no memory, so let me jog yours, or clue you in. A loooong time ago, Bill Gates had an idea. This was an idea for a set top box that would be a digital entertainment hub; a one stop shop, if you will, for watching movies, looking at TV, accessing the internet, communication, and gaming. He believed that this was the next logical step in fusing computers with entertainment and everyday life.

Mr Gates shopped this idea around to not only console makers, but to cable companies as well; but no one was interested. It was then determined by Micorsoft that if this vision of the future was to come into existence, they would have to do it on their own.

After a lot of research, it was determined that the best way to get the public to accept such an entertainment device was to gradually introduce them to the idea because at the time such a device was cost prohibitive and the infrastructure was not there. Keep in mind that at this time there was no Hulu, no Netflix, no console online gaming, no social networking… nothing. So they introduced the Xbox. Many people guffawed at the idea of MS getting into the gaming biz, and it seemed like they might not last because the Xbox Division was operating at a great loss. Microsoft’s keeping their head in the game was attributed to deep pockets at the time, but that’s not entirely true. They kept going while losing money hand over fist because the prize for them was not winning a video game console war, but rather to get consumers to accept a Microsoft made entertainment product in their living rooms… and it worked. Phase one was a mental success, not a monetary one.

A lot of phase two consisted of offering up movie services and various entertainment products in a digital medium. This can be seen in the Xbox 360. People began to accept the idea of subscribing to a digital service for content delivery. Microsoft tried, and failed, to introduce a physical medium of entertainment consumption via an optional HD-DVD drive, but they bet their money on the wrong horse. This part of the second phase would have to wait on a later date. Overall, though, with the Xbox 360, MS achieved wide acceptance and brand recognition with consumers who identified the Xbox brand with not only game playing, but social interaction and media consumption.

That brings us to today where phase three saw realization. A set top media box that’s a one stop shop for entertainment consumption, just as Bill Gates envisioned. This was the end game. Microsoft never had any long term plans to be in the gaming business… in fact they didn’t want to be in it in the first place. They just wanted to offer the backbone to the machine and rake in license revenue. And that’s why today’s unveiling of the Xbox One was all about TV and movies and media, and a little about games. It’s not a game machine, and they don’t want it viewed as such.

None of this information is secret or conjecture. It’s not from a personal company bias on my part. It’s all part of the public record that people seem to have forgotten or were not able to piece together. And all you irate Xbox gamers can’t really be mad because YOU were what was needed to to make it happen. Welcome to the future of media consumption in America.

Top 10 SNES // SFC Games I *NEED* to play!

Tags

Hagane, Metroid, Ninja Warriors Again, Retro, Secret of Mana, Terranigma, Zelda

Back in the day, I owned a Megadrive and a PC Engine, so owning a SNES too was out of my financial range.

Because I didn’t get my own SFC until I was older (and my early SNES time was on mate’s consoles) my game knowledge on this delightful machine has some rather curious, and large, gaps.

Below are the top 10 games I figure I NEED to, hopefully, buy and play to death…

(1) Hagane
A crazy-looking apparently superb hack & slash platformer. Boxed it is stupidly expensive, I aim to find an unboxed copy.

It is supposed to be a brilliant, but the emulator I tried wasn’t perfect, however, I saw enough to start lusting!

(2) Ninja Warriors Again
I do like Ninja Warriors. It is a lot of fun. I adored the music on the Amiga version, I still listen to it on my phone. This version is supposed to be the bees knees. I gather those are good, but I’ve yet to encounter them.

(3) Super Metroid
This omission of mine is indefensible. I don’t really know how I’ve managed to avoid it, or why I’ve not properly played a Metroid game on any console.

I like platform games, and shooting games, and …. there’s no explanation … I can only apologise 😦

(4) Secret of Mana
There are reasons that I missed this game and the two that follow. You can’t as easily play RPGs on a mate’s console, I was getting all my RPG fixes on my Megadrive, and I preferred turn-based or strategy (grid-based) RPGs. Now, given that I’ve owned this title for ~20 years, I really should shut up, stop writing this crap, and play the game!

(5) Chrono Trigger
I only own this on the PS1, but I haven’t played it. If I had the coins, I’d stump up and buy this version. Whenever possible, I like to play a game on the console it first appeared on. I hear so much good about this game, I really need to find out for myself. Not sure if I’ll ever be able to break that seal though 😉

(6) Zelda – A Link to the Past
Have you ever heard of this game? I had the GB original, and I never really got on with it. Fearing the same, I never got around to playing this version, even though I’ve owned it for 20 odd years, yeah just like S’o’Mana.

I recently tried the first Wii Zelda, and I hated it. Does that make me a bad person? 😉

(7) Spriggan Powered
I love a shooter, me. And until recently I had no idea that the superb PC Engine blaster had this sequel. I must know more. But it is a shooter and therefore horribly expensive … but not quite out of reach!

(8) Captain Commando
I’m also a sucker for a good scrolling fighter and Capcom rocked on the SFC. I never found this in the arcade, so now the time is right for me to correct half a life time of missing out. The graphics look, big, bold and colourful. I want.

(9) Rendering Ranger Z
This looks like a tech demo with all sorts of crazy parallax effects and giant sprites. But it also looks like a Turrican beater, and Turrican gets a mention further down. I yearn to know more about this game which came along late in the day for the SNES. I want to play it with a proper pad (a memory from a very brief emulation session).

(10) BioMetal
Yes, another shooter that slipped me by. I gather it isn’t the very best either. But, and this is the twist, it contains the 2-Unlimited “song” Get Ready For This. How can I resist the urge to shoot and rave at the same time?! I can’t … can you?!

Oh, Ray & Anita, where are you now?

Nearly boys…
Axelay: a shooter, I have played it, but not properly & not in many years.
Rushing Beat: a scrolling scrapper, rumoured to be excellent, with the sequels even better.
Secret of Evermore: a fourth (action) RPG that I own and have not play. Looks absolutely gorgeous.
Sword Maniac: a hack & slash platformer. More affordable than Hagane, so I might play this one sooner!
Super Turrican: I’ve never played a Turrican properly either, but they do look good, and the musician is world class (Chris Husslebeck, sorry for the spelling).
Terranigma: a fifth (action) RPG that a mate swears is the best game ever. Who am I to doubt him? I own it, so I’d be a fool not to find out 😦

Top Ten SNES // SFC Games

Tags

F-Zero, Gradius, SFC, SNES, Street Fighter, Super Famicom, Super Mario, Super Nintendo

Here is a list of my top ten Super Famicom (Super Nintendo, or SNES) games. There are a few reasons why my list is a little odd. Firstly, I didn’t own one right away. As a student I couldn’t afford to keep my Megadrive, PC Engine, a 3rd console, and beer. I haven’t ever played a lot of the really rare titles and even some of the best known classics have eluded me. Maybe a game will be new to you, maybe not 🙂

(1) F-Zero
For me, the greatest racer ever made … except its sequel, F-Zero X which of course would not have been possible without the original. At the time, there was nothing to touch its smooth frame rate and exhilarating speed. Because of its smoothness, it had a tendency to make people to lean while playing it. Especially if you put them on a swivel chair 🙂 Still a very rewarding game with a great soundtrack. Much much love, and the game that made me know that, one day, I would own a Super Famicom.

(2) Act Raiser (music by Yuzo Koshiro)
The music utterly astounded me. We knew the SFC had a great sound chip but we had heard nothing like this before. The game was OK at first, it took a while to realise just how good it was. A curious mix of a sharp & polish platform slasher with, at first, puzzling “build-em up” sections. Great that you could save your progress given the size of the game, as this was not the norm for non RPGs at that time. Still one of my top 3 game soundtracks ever.

(3) Street Fighter II
This is where I first learned the subtleties and thrills of Street Fighter II. This conversion is so good that it allowed me to complete the (same version) of the arcade with 20p. I’m sure you all know this game now, but at the time there was nothing else quite like it … I owe the SNES and Capcom a great deal. Actually, now that I own about 20 Capcom Street Fighter variants, I guess I can consider that debt paid! A top ten beat’em up list is here.

(4) Castlevania
If Act Raiser was a sharp hack and slash, then this was the living epitome of a well crafted platform hacker. Just wonderfully well made, always fair, and with each repeated play, you get a little bit better. Exactly the way games should be, and yet so infrequently are. Why isn’t it about Act Raiser then? Well it’s my list, that’s why.

(5) Super Ghouls ‘n’ Ghosts
Man, this game is hard. Not always fair, but bloody bloody bloody addictive. Did I mention a debt I owe Capcom? They can sod off. I love this game. Sort of.

(6) Gradius III
The SFC has a poorer list of quality SHMUPS than the Megadrive or PC Engine. That said I couldn’t put this little bugger down – even though it features all the usual flaws (death means reset or take 30 deep breaths). Oddly, this version is better than the arcade counterpart – which is just FAR FAR FAR too hard – think Ghouls ‘n’ Ghosts, and double it. Oh, top tunes, and helpful slow down! I even did my first 1CC of it last year, so happy 🙂

(7) Super Mario World
It a fairly decent platform game. You have to jump and collect coins. There’s a green dinosaur and something about a princess. Come on, your dog knows this game. OK, one thought: the best Mario ever.

(8) Final Fight
Big, massive bold sprites, great tunes (repetitive? Well, the SNES does have a tremendous sound chip), and a great game. May have been a couple of spots higher if it was two player like the sequel or the Mega-CD version, but still, this version is the one I played most. I still love it.

(9) Contra
Hard, punishing (hey, is that as common as good music on a SNES game?), two player co-op, and huge amounts of swearing and fun. Konami really rocked the SFC. Some great mode 7 effects, and super end of level guys. Shooting monsters and people has never been so much fun. But really, you’ve got to watch out for them bullets. Unforgiving.

(10) Top Racer
This is probably the oddest choice in my list. It isn’t the best multi-player game, heck even the music is “stolen” from the Amiga classic Lotus Esprit Turbo – but I do love those tunes in this SNES mix! I enjoyed it back in the day, it was fun, and not too hard early on. But what sold it to me recently was that it kept my two daughters quiet for a good long while, and they actually got fairly good at it. An epic win for those that understand the pain of parenting!

Please feel free to trash my filthy list for not including Final Fantasy (I was all over Phantasy Star, Shining Force, and Ys), Mario Kart (F-Zero), Metroid, and Megaman. I wish I could have included Hagane and Ninja Warriors again, alas, I’m not that rich 😦

One other thing, you may wish to look at another list of fantastic SFC games by a very cool forest based tweeter.