Author Archive
Download Titles Come to Club Nintendo Europe, Finally
Club Nintendo Europe I feel has always been the worst of the three available. Its a mash up of the worst things from the American version and the Japanese version. To this day I have struggled to decided between the catalogue of gimmicky crap like wrapping paper, key rings, or cash in your stars for Wii points. Yes that’s the original Wii not the Wii U or 3DS. But all that has changed and just in the nick of time Nintendo because as we all know Club Nintendo is finally coming to end in all territories. You can now finally exchange those hard earned stars for actual downloadable games on the Wii U and 3DS.
Atari claims Copyright on TxK
Rather than spend time developing new and exciting games Atari has decided to threaten British veteran game developer Jeff Minter with copyright claim. They claim the vita game TxK is too similar to the old school Tempest series and has demanded Minter remove the game for sale. There is no denying that TxK is very much a spiritual successor to the Tempest series. In fact Jess Minter actually developed Tempest 2000 for the Atari Jaguar. Minter has stated that he has been having problems with Atari behind the scenes for several months and even offered to develop a sequel to the Tempest series with the company but they have denied him the luxury. Instead just threatening more legal again to Minter who claims he lacks the funds to take the case to court.
Swedish Airports Have Arcade Charity Machines
This is a incredibly creative way to raise money for charity that will hopefully catch on in other countries. Working with the Red Cross arcade machines of Space Invaders, Galaga, and Ms. Pac-Man have been installed to accept multiple types of currency with all the proceeds going to charity. So you can enjoy your favourite retro games while you wait for that plane ride knowing it all goes to a good cause. If this catches on maybe well see other games brought back into the fray. If I could choose I would sink plenty of money into a Bubble Bobble or Rainbow Islands cabinet.
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number Review
The original Hotline Miami is still a massive indie hit that has a colourful over the top retro look to it with a fantastic soundtrack to accompany it. The goal of each level was simple: kill every enemy on screen by any means necessary. Although that comes across as a very basic concept the game is very difficult and you will find yourself restarting constantly until you finally figure out the magical formula to dispatch all the bad guys in the level. I was hooked to this game instantly when I first played it, and was pretty excited to hear a sequel was on the way.
Someone Made A Mario Timeline
Mario has never had the most complex tale. With the majority of the games involving Princess Peach being captured and Mario having to go on a obligatory expedition to rescue her. Well if you ever wondered how could all those Mario titles possibly link together then fear not a hard working YouTuber has placed the majority of the Mario series (including some spin offs) into a rather convincing chronological order. Who knows maybe Nintendo will take note of this effort and allow another official historia like Zelda. It’s just a shame they didn’t go one step beyond and include some of the more uncommon Japanese titles. Still, this is a fantastic video worth watching for any fan of the Mario games. Let’s face it guys there is a couple of games in this video you know you love.
Jam is Going to Play Blackpool, Are You?
Fresh on the cusp of Fred attending the Midwest Gaming Classic in Milwaukee, WI on April 11-12 (and having a panel), Jam is also attending a retro gaming convention across the pond in the UK, Play Blackpool. It will be at the beginning of May in Norbreck Castle in Blackpool and he even created a handy video to introduce it. Check it out and hit up Jam if you are planning to attend.
Jam’s Mystery Unboxing and March Game Club Promo
Our main man Jamalais has been busy at work this week with some videos for the GH101 community. The first is an unboxing video of the mystery package he received from the Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) speerunning marathon and yetee.com:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu0srWByWXo
The second is a promo video for the two great games we are featuring for the March Game Club, Alien Trilogy and Die Hard Trilogy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eGrJfroNU8
Check them out!
Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy) Review
Platform: Xbox, Playstation 2, PC (both the original and the just released Remastered Edition)
Released: 2005 (worldwide)
Developer: Quantic Dream
Publisher: Atari
Digital Release? Yes – Available on Xbox 360 as an Xbox Original and Remastered is on Steam ($9.99 for all versions)
Price: $8.00 (disc only), $10.99 (complete), and $46.97 (new/sealed) per Price Charting (prices are for PS2 version, Xbox/PC versions a bit lower due to re-release)
Jam’s Take
Fahrenheit (aka Indigo Prophecy in America) is one of those games that attempted to create a interactive film experience. Some excepted this concept with open arms, some people frowned on it proclaiming it technically wasn’t a game. Well several years has passed since that fateful release in 2005 so lets see if Fahrenheit is still worth investing in.
Fahrenheit’s story has you following three character Lucas Kane a 9-to-5 IT worker who has a fondness for reading Shakespeare in diners, Carla Valenti a young cop who is claustrophobic and Tyler Miles, Carla’s police partner and your typical comic relief in a cop duo but he likes basketball, which is ok in my book. Essentially New York as well as the world is starting to get cold, really cold and bizarre murders are occurring round the city where normal folk are killing innocent people then themselves. I won’t spoil the story too much as it is the games strongest draw. What I will say is the game is filled with a fair few twists and turns playing out very much like a film, if it hooks you from the beginning it is very likely you will play through to the end.
Woah Dave! Review
I first experienced Woah Dave! At EGX 2014. It was being demoed on the 3DS at the time and it was one of the few games that didn’t have a crazy long que. I enjoyed what I played but like a lot of the smaller indie games at the show I just forgot about it. Fast forward to today and we are given the game for free through Playstation plus. It’s surprising that this has released on the Playstaion Network before the Nintendo eshop. [Woah Dave! was released on the eshop in the US back in October 2014 – ed.]
Woah Dave! takes its inspiration from the original arcade classics like Mario Bros and Joust. You play a small pixel man and your objective is to collect as many pennies as you can, which then act as your overall score. To find the pennies you have to defeat enemies that start out as little eggs but soon hatch into alien looking baddies. To kill these enemies you have to pick up eggs or skulls and throw them at the target. But you have to be quick as the skulls explode after a short time and the eggs hatch. If this happens while your holding it you will loose a life. If the enemy manages to reach the lava below it will evolve into a stronger enemy. Each time the enemies reach the bottom they change into a faster and more difficult enemy until they become a flying eye ball which will literally pursue your character unless you defeat it. There is a lot of risk reward with the game. You can play it safe and destroy the eggs as soon as they drop but you will receive a minimum score. But, if you wait for the enemies to get stronger, they will drop more coins. You have to collect the coins to bank them into your score, so unless you play carefully your coins could end up in the lava and be useless. There is a single powerup which resembles the power block from Mario Bros (except it says Woah on it) that occasionally falls from the heavens. Picking this up and flinging it will destroy everything on the screen in a satisfying shower of coins.
Psychic World Review
Platform: Game Gear (there is a European Master System version) – For the hardcore, the Japanese MSX version is worth looking up.
Released: 1991 (worldwide)
Developer: Hertz
Publisher: Sega
Digital Release? No
Price: $3.75 (cart only), $15.00 (complete), and $15.00 (new/sealed) per Price Charting
Psychic World is one of those old Sega games that just seemed to get lost in time. Originally called Psycho World, in Japan on the MSX computer, the game was brought over to Europe in 1991 and renamed the more suitable Psychic World. The game was released on the Master System and Game Gear, for this review well be delving into the Game Gear version (which did come out in the US). This was probably one of the first Game Gear games I ever played next to the original Wonder Boy.
Psychic World is set in the year 19XX. which no matter how you write that on paper now sounds like it’s in the past, even though the setting of this game feels far into the future. I guess the game developers thought we would enjoy the 20th century so much we wouldn’t want to leave it so they started sticking Roman Numerals at the end.
Gaming History 101 