Archive for the ‘Retro Game Challenge’ Category
Celebrate Halloween with Splatterhouse 2 and Typing of the Dead
Happy Halloween from Gaming History 101! To celebrate we had Fred tackle Splatterhouse 2, a game he tragically had not played until today. Can he overcome the house of horrors and save Jennifer?
Warning: Both videos contain adult language and gameplay violence.
Then to lighten things up Fred moves over to the Dreamcast to play through Typing of the Dead.
May the Fourth Be With You: Super Empire Strikes Back (SNES)
Here it is, the challenge that spawned from Fred’s mystery game 3-pack in March. It was brutal, it was frustrating, it was on easy…but Fred has beaten Super Empire Strikes Back and what better time to reveal the video but May the Fourth. Enjoy.
Dragon’s Lair Video Review
Platform: Sega CD (originally in arcades and released on almost every console ever, seriously)
Released: 1983 (arcade), 1993 (Sega CD version)
Developer: Advanced Microcomputer Systems
Publisher: Cinematronics
Digital Release? Yes, far too many to count
Price (Sega CD Version): $7.10 (disc only), $14.95 (complete), $19.95 (sealed)
Retro Game Challenge: Shinobi (PS2), Part 2
More than a year ago, Fred featured the Playstation 2 game Shinobi on Retro Game Night. I was told that this is a brutally hard title that will test my skills. He put it to the back burner, but after recent feedback we’re returning to these games to take up the challenge. In his own words, here’s Fred’s reflection:
I remember playing it at first and didn’t understand what the big deal was. Shinobi’s battle mechanics are pretty basic, not even coming close to the skills required of games like Ninja Gaiden on the original Xbox. While the two games may be compared based on premise, time of release, and challenge, they couldn’t be more different. Shinobi is not hard at the beginning, it’s barely a challenge, while I know plenty who haven’t completed the first level (and specifically boss) of Ninja Gaiden. All of that changed with part 2 of this Retro Game Challenge. Shinobi ramps up fast and despite beating the level at the end, it made my blood boil and wasn’t worth the effort I put in. My conquest felt cheap, possibly even cheating. I’m not done with this title, but my skepticism on it’s fairness and ability to provide a proper challenge that I enjoy in gaming, is raised. I guess we’ll see. In the meantime, enjoy a video that starts very positive and ends with a nearly embarrassing response from me. As you may have already guessed beware of crass adult language near the end.
Just Because: Die Hard Arcade (Dynamite Deka) PS2 Complete Playthrough
Recently Fred played Die Hard Arcade on the Sega Saturn to show off one of the oddest directions licensed franchises have gone in games. Well the game was known as Dynamite Deka (Dynamite Cop) in Japan, but retained all the Die Hard similarities, and was re-made in arcade perfect form on the PS2 (only in Japan as part of the Sega Ages 2500 series). When Fred noticed it on the Japanese PSN for the PS3 – and at only ¥400 on sale, ¥823 normally – he had to pick it up and play through it. Feel free to grab it for yourself if interested, but without further ado we present the complete playthrough of Dynamite Deka.
Retro Game Challenge: Conker’s Bad Fur Day
Over the Thanksgiving holiday Fred and his brother-in-law Brian sat down and played/streamed 14 glorious hours of the N64 classic Conker’s Bad Fur Day. It was a grueling battle and the boys vowed to use no faqs/walkthroughs/guides, which accounts for the long play time. Well now that all is said and done, this is the outcome: a 3 hour video filled with snarky remarks, alcohol use (in game and by the duo players), and some of the most outrageous moments in gaming. Enjoy!
Upcoming Retro game Challenge: Conker’s Bad Fur Day
Greetings All:
As you’ve probably heard by now we are going to be playing through the entire campaign of Conker’s Bad Fur Day, live streamed on Twitch. Later on I’ll edit it together into a fun little highlight video that’s only about an hour long, but the entire 10-12 hour campaign will be streamed with sarcastic commentary. Here’s the schedule:
- 11pm – 3am Sunday, November 23rd
- 9am – 5pm Monday, November 24th
And if Fred doesn’t see the credits by then we will come back Monday night sometime (he has another podcast tomorrow night) and wrap it up. Stay tuned here for all the info. You can check out our twitch channel at twitch.tv/gh101.
Please Note: Due to the nature of the content in Conker’s Bad Fur Day and the language potentially used in commentary, you will be required to accept a mature content gate to access the stream. This is purely to prevent visitors from unwanted vulgarity. Thank you.
Retro Game Challenge: Radiant Silvergun
For those of you gearing up for this week’s Gaming History 101 shmup game club, we’ve got the Radiant Silvergun campaign through to completion on a video here. Don’t expect the best playing in the world, I’m okay but I’m no match for the one-lifers who take this game on. It was more like 50 lives in my case, but nonetheless, I managed to complete the game despite some self destructing bosses.
Retro Game Challenge: Ghosts’N Goblins (NES)
Fred tackles one of the hardest NES titles of all time: Ghosts’N Goblins.
WARNING: Due to the difficulty and nature of this challenge, there is explicit language, viewer discretion is advised.
Retro Game Challenge: Stinger (NES)
Console: NES
Released: 1987
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Instruction Manual: Not necessary – Link
Difficulty: Moderate
Played it as a child? No
Value: $3.65 (used), ???? (new) (pricecharting.com)
Other Releases: Yes – as Muero! TwinBee in Japan on the Famicom Disc System and Famicom (cart version)
Digital Release? Yes – Virtual Console for Wii (Japan only)
Below is the completion of the hybrid horizontal/vertical shmup Stinger, better known in Japan as Muero! TwinBee due to the fact that it is a sequel to the original TwinBee set 100 years after the events of the original. Since we did not get TwinBee in this country, the title was changed to Stinger and a different back story was given, the title belonging to the given name of the ship you pilot. It’s clearly a TwinBee title, though, with the distinctive bells that you juggle to gather power-ups and point bonuses. Other interesting differences between the American and Japanese version were multiple difficulty settings, selectable as medium or hard in Japan and eventually an easy option was added for the Famicom cart release. In America we only received one default difficulty (medium) but the game immediately starts over upon completion on the hard difficulty, easy does not exist in the US version. This title was intended to support up to three players and in Japan the cartridge had an extra controller port for the third player. Since carts loaded out of the top on the Famicom this was possible, however at this point there was only a side load for NES carts and thus the game was forced into a two player only mode. If you had the optional accessory, the four score, which added four more port to the console, Stinger would still only support two players. In the video below I complete the entire game although I do not replay the harder difficulty as it does not give more content or a different ending.
Gaming History 101 