Retrospective: Irem's GunForce Games

It's time for a look at GunForce 1 & 2 by Irem. They were a pair of run-and-gun games in the tradition of Contra, and would lead to the creation of the Metal Slug series.

The History of Nintendo's Super FX Chip

It's time for a look back at when Nintendo first dipped its toes into the world of polygons.

The Taito WOWOW: The Console That Never Was

A look back at when Taito was considering creating a home console of their own, which would make use of satellite technology.

A Brief Rolling Thunder Series Retrospective

Namco was one of the kings of the arcade and one of their best series was Rolling Thunder. This video takes a look back at it.

A Look Back at Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra

Waxing nostalgic about this classic CRPG.

Castle in the Darkness

This whole neo retro thing that has been emerging from indie games has been pretty great, I think. Being someone who grew up playing stuff like the NES, Genesis, and SNES, seeing new releases that are very obvious nods to the games of that era is most welcome. We even get the benefit of tighter controls, faster gameplay, and the implementation of various newer game design ethos that have come along recent years. So, we wind up with a game that is both nostalgic and fresh at the same time.

Lately, I've been fiddling around with one such game called Castle in the Darkness (henceforth referred to as CitD). It's been out for a few years and has a light metroidvania feel to it. Players are pitted as the last surviving knight in their castle after it was attacked, and who must now fight through legions of enemies in said castle to save the kingdom.

Visually, the game looks like something that could just as well have appeared on the NES. The sprite work is very well done and true to the period all while eliminating the flicker and other graphical shortcomings that Nintendo's old console was known for. Character and enemy design goes for a cutesy approach with players controlling their adorable little knight and proceeding to fight cute little enemies, all while helping cute little townsfolk. The bosses aren't so little, but still reasonably cute in their design, with some being impressively large, taking up a fair bit of real estate on the screen.

From the aural side of things, CitD covers the bases in therms of sound effects and music. From what I've played thus far, there haven't been any particular standout tracks. The tunes just do what they need to, harking back to the 80s with catchy, bouncy bleeps and bloops. It certainly fills the nostalgia quotient, but doesn't go above and beyond that.

As I mentioned earlier, the game has a light metroidvania feel to it. There are branching paths, items to find, and obstructions that can't be passed without finding these items. This results in a degree of exploration and backtracking just like in the days of Metroid and Castlevania, or at least installments in those series that involved exploration and / or backtracking.

With that there is plenty of marching through varied albeit castle-y environments as players stab their way through hordes of undead in search of doodads and bosses. Areas I've come across thus far have some pretty noticeable nods to Castlevania, particularly one zone with bits of clockwork gears twirling around which instantly made me think of the clock tower in Castlevania III.

CitD is pretty challenging too, with the game happily keeping count of how many times players die. After dying 50 times, an easy mode is unlocked for those who want to tone things down a bit, and even then the game poo-poos people for opting to take the easier route, implying that only wimps that don't play a lot of games would want to use it.

Personally, I don't find it too terrible, but then again I'm an old geezer who cut his teeth on games of this ilk. All it really takes is learning enemies' attack patterns, figuring out platform timing, and getting a handle on controlling your character. The last part actually takes a wee bit of practice, as your little on-screen knight has some momentum behind him when he moves. This results in him moving forward a tad after running, and a bit more after a running jump, so players need to be aware of this and learn to compensate for it while platforming.

As you've probably surmised, I've not yet finished the game, but it has been tugging on just the right nostalgic heartstrings thus far, so I've been inclined to yak about it a bit. Folks that like these indie games that hark back to times of yore may want to consider tracking it down. If anything, wait until a Steam sale. The game is already cheap and when those sales happen it can go for under a buck, so you don't have much to lose.

Hyper Light Drifter

Having been watching this game off and on since it was announced, I’ve been curious just how Hyper Light Drifter would finally turn out. It has some very eye catching visuals with very pretty pixel art that really helped the game to get its foot in the door, but it’s followed up with a Zelda-inspired experience filled with opportunities to explore and some reasonably challenging baddies to cross swords with.

There have been no lack of games to come along in recent years to go the pixelated route with obvious nods to games of the past. Some of these have been good, others not so much. HLD is definitely in the first camp. It’s visiting a lot of stuff we’ve seen before like the aforementioned Zelda series, but there’s just so much polish here. Combat is fluid and fast-paced, there’s a heavy emphasis on exploration and non-linearity, environments and characters hint at a massive backstory, and the aesthetic of the game is its own instead of just being another pixel art game that looks like something straight off the NES or SNES. This is the sort of game that serves as an excellent example of something that taps into retro games without feeling derivative; at the same time tapping into a lot of modern sensibilities.

At its heart, the game has a lot in common with old classic Zelda titles with its overhead view, combat style, and so much exploration. In fact, combat feels smoother and faster than anything I’ve ever come across in a Zelda game. Given what HLD throws at players, though, it’s easy to see this being a necessity. It’s definitely a challenging game. That being said, I think most people’s opinion of this will hinge on how much they’ve played old 8 and 16-bit games of this ilk. If you have indeed played a number of those types of games, HLD will seem reasonably manageable, though still fairly challenging, but those who haven’t may run into difficulty.

Enemies all have patterns and tells to their attacks. One needs to simply pay attention for a moment and watch the baddies do their thing while making use of the dodge button so they don’t get hit. It doesn’t take long to figure out what types of attacks enemies do and what sort of animation they perform before unleashing it so that players have the good sense to get out of the way. It only gets really intense when a room locks the player in and a bunch of enemies spawn at once to swarm the hero. In this case, things do get dicey, requiring some fancy footwork to dodge everything enemies throw at the player. Even then, it’s not insurmountable. The game doesn’t just drop players into these situations. It eases them in. Players are slowly introduced to the different enemies, and only after making it a fair way into a given dungeon do they find themselves in such situations.

Bosses too are a matter of learning patterns. If anything, I found these guys easier than some of the swarming incidents. They have very discernible patterns that don’t take long to learn, and it’s simply a matter of execution after in order to take them down. Really, these were the most reminiscent element of 16-bit gaming in HLD for me.

Your character also has a variety of unlockable abilities that can be purchased from trainers in the hub town of the game. While wandering around the countryside, players will gradually gather little yellow tokens and once they have enough they can be exchanged with the trainer for a new skill. These tokens are actually quite rare. They aren’t like coins that can be farmed to one’s heart’s content. They’re hidden in boxes and sometimes drop from enemies, but once they’ve been collected they never respawn. Also, once they’ve been spent there’s no turning back because the game automatically overwrites your last save after purchase, preventing save scumming whereby if players don’t like the ability they can just load up an old save and try something else. That just isn’t allowed here. As such, players need to think long and hard before buying a skill because once they have it that’s it, they’re stuck with it. If they want another they’ll have to head out into the wilderness and figure out where the rest of the hidden tokens are. So, in that regard there are some choices that have consequences in this game.

All the while, there’s quite a bit of exploration to be had. Players start in a hub town situated at the center of the world map with four exits: North, South, East, and West. From there it’s up to the individual to where they want to go. Generally each path leads to some sort of major temple where a boss is waiting to be defeated and some ancient device needs to be activated, but along the way there are no lack of detours to go on. There are a number of smaller power devices and keys that need to be found in order to get to a boss, so players need to wander around and find all of these as well, venturing down different paths. Some of these can be quite hard to find, and actually require you to run your character against the edges of an area. At some point, they may pop into a hidden passage tucked away behind a building or beneath a canopy of trees. They can be tough to see, but once found it’s quite satisfying, especially because they usually lead to useful goodies like more yellow tokens, health packs, or dungeon entrances.

As one wanders this world, it’s hard not to wonder about its past. Just from looking at the surroundings, it’s obvious that players are in some sort of post apocalyptic setting. There are ruined buildings, old broken down robots, and dilapidated cannons everywhere, overgrown with foliage, being clear remnants of a fallen civilization. With all of this, though, we don’t get much explanation of how all this came to pass or why we’re doing what we’re doing in HLD. This is a very intentional approach, as the game has no dialogue in it. Any time the player talks with an NPC, they aren't greeted with a text bubble. Instead, a window opens with a series of still images depicting a short story. It’s enough to get the idea across but leaves a lot open to the imagination. While it does leave the player with some questions, at the same time it helps build a sense of wonder about HLD’s world as one tries to fill in the blanks on their own.

Also building this sense of wonder is the game’s aesthetic, as it has some of the nicest pixel art to come along in the last little while. HLD’s graphics very much have a personality of their own in terms of character and enemy designs, environments, and even the color scheme. As mentioned earlier, far too many pixel art games simply mimic things we’ve seen in 8 and 16-bit consoles, but this one does its own thing, allowing HLD to clearly stand out from other pixelated projects available.

The music also helps to enhance the experience. It has a very analogue synth feel to it reminiscent of Blade Runner. The game has the same composer as Fez, so it’s easy to see the similarities between the two. It works quite well here with the generally mellow, whirring minimalism of the synthesizers building the sense of wonder and loss permeating through HLD’s world.

In the end, Hyper Light Drifter is a game people who like Zelda-esque action adventures should consider spending some time with. There have been plenty of other games to come along and provide similar experiences, but HLD is so much more polished while developing a personality of its own. The game is fairly challenging, but by no means impossible (if anything, I’d say that the Dark Souls series gives me more trouble than this did). With games like Dark Souls III, Quantum Break, and the HTC Vive coming out about now, there’s a chance HLD might fall between the cracks, but it’s a game that really deserves to be played. It just does so many things right, and looks great doing it.

A Look Back at Gaiapolis

There was a time when Konami pumped out a lot of really great beat 'em ups. Hell, there was a time when Konami pumped out a lot of really great games, but that's a story for another day. Right now, we're here to set our gaze back to 1993 when the company released Gaiapolis. It's not exactly one of their most well-remembered games, which is a shame, but it was a good romp and a beat 'em up that tried to do things a little bit differently.

Right from the get go one can see that the game was trying to break away from beat 'em up convention. The perspective of everything happening on screen is from a much more overhead view rather than seeing everything from the side. It works quite well and allows for a lot more freedom of movement than other games in the genre. Instead of being on that constant march from the left side of the screen to the right, players would guide their character left, right, up, and down.

Granted, quite a lot of time was spent going from the bottom of the screen to the top. However, going in these other directions made the levels feel larger and more natural when compared to the much more simple, linear experience one would get when traversing the stages of most other beat 'em ups.

Also, the game was a looker. Around this time, Konami was making some very pretty games, particularly for the arcade. Their sprite work could be quite detailed and they were using rather bright colors in many of their games. The result were games whose visuals really popped off the screen and caught the attention of those passing by, enticing them to drop a quarter or two into the game and give it a go. Gaiapolis was one such example of this thanks to the high fantasy settings and anime-inspired character designs.

Another thing that the game did to set itself apart from its competitors was to implement some basic RPG elements. Characters would gain experience whenever they defeated an enemy, leveling up once they had gained enough, as well as occasionally coming across a new weapon that they could use that would make them stronger. Also, there was a surprisingly fleshed out story, especially for this being an arcade game. After each stage, there would be a simple cut scene with some portraits and dialogue text as the characters discussed their situation and what to do next. It wasn't much, and Gaiapolis certainly wasn't the only example of this happening in arcade beat 'em ups as Capcom was experimenting with similar ideas in games like The King of Dragons, but adding these aspects to the game resulted in a greater sense of progression than what one might have found in other comparatively simple games of the genre.

The story itself is simple enough. The Kingdom of Avalon has been destroyed by the Zar Harc Empire, and now Prince Gerard Himerce wants to take revenge for what happened to his kingdom. If players aren't all that keen on vengeful princes, they have two other characters that they can choose to play as. First there's Elaine, a half-human and half-fairy who looks an awful lot like Nei from the Phantasy Star games. Alternately, one can go with the dragon warrior Galahad if they prefer. They all handle a little bit differently, but not by a huge amount.

It's interesting to note that this also made the game fairly long as far as what one would usually find in an arcade. Gaiapolis clocked in at over 60 minutes to complete, and probably closer to an hour and a half for most people. By arcade game standards this is an eternity. Most of these things would take 30 minutes tops someone to beat, and, really, taking longer than that could feel like one was becoming pressed for time, or at least instilled a slight fear of missing the bus or appointment. Gaiapolis was pretty darn massive by comparison. In order to address this, Konami included a password system whereby players could jot the thing down and pick up from where they left off at another time. Granted, password systems can be pretty obnoxious as anyone old enough to remember those things can attest to, but it was a huge help in getting through this game without being stuck in the arcade for hours on end.

Of course, the big question with a game like this is, "How's the beating things up part?" To which one would have to answer, "About what one might expect." It's not the most exciting response that could be given, but it is accurate. Trudging through any given level, players smash their way through wave after wave of Zar Harc cannon fodder, which aren't all that difficult if one makes even the slightest effort to avoid being swarmed. These guys largely feel like an opportunity to get some experience points and hopefully level up, giving players a greater sense of accomplishment, rather than any kind of serious opposition.

On the other hand, the bosses themselves are where players will really feel like they've done something important. These enemies were quite large and usually had a decent amount of mechanics. One would have to make a point of learning their patterns of attack and adjusting accordingly. For their time, these were some pretty neat fights.

The NES version of the game in all
of its 8-bit glory.

Helping to keep combat in general a little more interesting were helper pets that could be found in treasure chests from time to time. These would be creatures like an armadillo, a baby dragon, or a little rodent in armor with a war hammer. They didn't look like much but could be quite helpful in fights.

Unfortunately, Gaiapolis never received an official home port. Konami was very hit and miss in terms of which arcade games they gave ports to, generally leaning toward the miss side of things. Unexpectedly, though, a team of Taiwanese pirates (the coding kind, not the swashbuckling Yee-har-ar type) took it upon themselves to make a bootleg version of the game for the NES. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but here we are. The game isn't completely horrible, which is nice, and it does make for a quaint novelty, but one can't help but wonder why they didn't opt for the SNES at least if they were going to put themselves through all that work anyway. Other than that, the game has largely faded into the mists of time outside of Elaine inexplicably becoming an unlockable character in Konami's equally obscure Battle Tryst.

So, there we have it, Gaiapolis. One more of Konami's classics that far too many people are either forgetting about or never knew existed in the first place. The game is well worth trying out for anyone curious. It's an enjoyable enough beat 'em up and a reminder of when Konami was still one of the dominant forces in the arcade.

Freedom Planet and Waxing Nostalgic for the Genesis

After being engaged in a grueling staring contest with it as the game sat in my Steam library for months, I've finally gotten around to playing Freedom Planet. Its aesthetic had caught my eyes as it screamed 16-bit. The character designs, the environments, and the use of color all brought back a flood of memories from the heyday of the Sega Genesis. The game really does bare a resemblance Sonic the Hedgehog and it isn't just how it looks but to some extent how FP plays as well, as it does go for the "Gotta go fast!" mentality that is so prevalent from Sega's series. All the while, there's an element of exploration from trying to find all of the collectibles scattered around a level. Part of me kept thinking that I should be annoyed by this while playing the game because it does make for bit of a stilted experience from all the zipping around at full throttle, then slamming on the breaks to look for stuff. However, that just wasn't the case. The ambience of the game, combined with the platforming, and boss fights made me enjoy FP quite a bit and overlook that.

For someone who quite likes revisiting games of old and has a soft spot for the Genesis, FP really is something special. It can't be said enough how much the developers nailed the whole 16-bit Sega era in terms of visuals and animation here. The game looks like something straight out of 1994 or so when games on the Genesis were starting to look really good. There's a lot of detail without going overboard, smooth animation, and the color palette really pops off the screen.

The levels are actually really big. While there's a clock counting up from the start of each stage, I quickly began to ignore it. Exploration has always been a big thing to me, as I've mentioned before while playing Skyrim, so poking around and finding all of the things was far more of a priority than speed running the game to complete stages in as little time as possible. I'd go so far as to say that speed running the story mode levels on the first playthrough does FP a disservice. A lot of the fun comes from poking around trying to find everything, It brings back a lot of memories of playing Metroid and games of that ilk, just methodically checking every nook and cranny.

About the only area of the game that left me with mixed feelings was the voice acting. While it is very good, there's just so much of it. The cut scenes are very long in FP. They have a Saturday morning cartoon vibe to them, and do bring out the occasional chuckle, but they really do a number on the game's pacing. After downing the boss for a level, while I do like a bit of a break for advancing the story, a bit more brevity would have done wonders here. This is pretty much the one area where they game falters for me.

While the voice acting was a bit much, the music is amazing, and I can't get enough of it. The composer really nailed the feel of 16-bit platformer soundtracks. Thematically it's spot on, and the instrumentation does an interesting job of straddling itself between the bleepy bloopiness of the 90s and more current sounds. It's easily one of my favorite soundtracks to come along in the last few years.

With the huge wave of pseudo retro games to come out in recent years, there's just so much to choose from. Action games, RPGs, platformers, adventure games, you name it. Players have some hard choices to make when considering picking up a game of this ilk, but I'd definitely have to recommend Freedom Planet. It does so many things right when it comes to recapturing the feel of Genesis-era action platformers. If you like Sonic and have a soft spot for video games of the early 90s, you owe it to yourself to check this game out.

Random Game Talk: Trouble Shooter (Genesis / Mega Drive)

We have a video Random Game Talk here taking a look at Vic Tokai shoot 'em up Trouble Shooter for the Sega Genesis.

Valdis Story: Abyssal City Quick Impressions (PC)

Today Jeff takes a look at Valdis Story, a 2D action adventure game in the spirit of classics like Castlevania and Metroid.  The game also recently got approved on Steam's Greenlight service, and will show up in the store some time in the future.

Review: Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Edition (PC)

Sometimes tablet games translate well to the PC, other times not so much. Even if the game was fun and well received on the former, the way games are consumed on each of these platforms can be quite different so that what may be enjoyable on a tablet may not be so elsewhere. This is exactly what we have with the PC version of Knights of Pen and Paper. I can totally see how people would enjoy this game on a tablet, bonking some monsters on the head while on the train for 20 minutes. Even the above average level of control that players have over battles can seem intriguing in short bursts. However, most people who play RPGs on their home computers, myself included, tend to do so for fairly prolonged sessions. What was once a nice time waster here and there becomes a tedious slog. Even the once charming retro aesthetic begins to wear its welcome after half an hour or so.

RGT: Bloody Roar (PS1)

Like classic fighting games?  Then you're probably familiar with Bloody Roar, a game where characters could transform into vicious animals when beating the tar out of their opponents.  Today Jeff takes a look back at the first game in the series.

Revisiting Soul Blazer (SNES)

Combining city building with an RPG isn't necessarily the most obvious choice when super gluing two genres together, and calling it a game, yet it has worked on several occasions. The Dark Cloud games would be an excellent example of relatively recent games to accomplish this. However, there were games that came along much earlier and took a stab at this sort of thing. One of the earliest that I ever played was Actraiser on the SNES. This combined a city building element with an action game. It was something that I'd never seen before, but my curiosity was peaked. So, when a new action RPG came along a few years later that combined rebuilding cities with, well, an action RPG, I decided that it was something that I'd like to try.

Come Back, Kururin!

Get talking about any game series that's not all that popular, and before long someone pipes up and says, "You know what game needs to come back? This one. You know. The one with the stuff." and it all deteriorates into a nostalgia filled soliloquies about some long forgotten game that you may or may not have heard of. It's kind of annoying, but the guy yacking is your friend, or at least smells nice, so you just let him prattle on for a while. Well, guess what, today I'm going to prattle on about why a fabulous game series featuring penguin-powered rotating sticks needs to make a comeback (Don't worry, I smell nice!).

Random Game Talk: Cybernator (SNES)

There can never be too many giant robot games, and today Mr. Nash takes a look back at one of his favorites: Cybernator for the SNES.

Random Game Talk: Marvel's (NES)

Today Mr. Nash takes a look back at one of the worst game purchases he made as a child.

Random Game Talk: Bujingai (PS2)

Today, Mr. Nash takes a look back at one of the early spectacle fighters on the PlayStation 2, Bujingai: The Forsaken City, a game full of swirling, flashy sword fighting, magic, and a singer most Westerners have likely never heard of.

Random Game Talk: Strider (NES)

While the arcade / Genesis version of Strider gets the majority of the attention from this series, the NES installment is a game that is very good in its own right.  In this episode, Mr. Nash takes a look back at that game.

Random Game Talk: Dungeon Explorer (TG-16)

Mr. Nash takes a look back at one of Atlus' earliest releases to come to the West.  Dungeon Explorer is an action RPG that came to the TurboGrafx-16 in 1989.