A Return to the Era of Incline - Old Games Revisited

Biometal - SNES



I distinctly remember the first time I played this. Round a mates house he had a SNES game copier called a "UFO", and this was one of the first games I tried on it. Smashed me like a ton of bricks in the face, I had no idea that you had a shield which could protect against bullets, and instead played through dodging everything. What a rush. Probably the best I've ever played a game first off as I somehow managed to dodge almost everything and complete the first level losing only 1 life. If you've played this, you'll know that's no mean feat. So returning to it know I braced for impact and fuck me that first level. What an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, head first dive into bullet hell.

It's your standard side scrolling shooter fair in terms of gameplay & power ups, but it adds several extra elements. Firstly, it is bullet hell, and I mean absolute bullet hell. Barely any room to breath and the regular screen slowdown is often welcome. But you're also given a shield to help out here, and said shield can be used in several different way as a weapon (launched at the enemy, spread round as a mini smart "bomb", or just used to smash into things). It's surprising just how much extra depth & fun this adds, but it really does. You're forever weighing up the pros & cons of turning your shield on/off to reserve it's charge, and it makes for some very tense moments. But it's also done incredibly well, so that you can still focus on the action too. Brilliant stuff.

And let's get to the music. The European version actually feature the totally wank 2-Unlimited "No Limit" track, which I find utterly bizarre as the original music is fucking stunning. Very atomospheric stuff. So if you get the opportunity play the Jap version.

Anyway, the enemies are cool with some very unique HR-Giger esq designs, as is are the level deigns themselves, the boss fights nice enough, and overall it's a mint little package. It does lack a tiny bit of variance in terms of backdrop graphics, and there's more "crunchy" shoot em ups out there, but it's still a hell of a blast.

I personally love it, but it won't be for everyone as it can be frustratingly hard at times.

:4/5:

Alisa Dragoon - Megadrive



This one I talked a mate of mine with big tits into buying coz I didn't have the cash to get it at the time, & she was after a new game. She hated it, so I borrowed it off her for about 2 years.

It's a departure from most games of this ilk as you don't direct you're weapon, instead it targets automatically. You're also supported by several different breeds of dragons, each with their own specialty, so there's a very slight tactical element to it too. In fact, when it all comes down to it the game is more about surviving than killing, and said survival is hugely dependent on locating power ups too. I once played through to Stage 3 without boosting my lightening attack, and everything to an AGE to kill. Didn't make it more difficult as much as it made it more long-winded & dull. So exploration is the most important element of getting through this.

It's weird. A very strange mish-mash of genres with odd enemy setups, and an absolute ton of instances where you're caught blind. What's really fucking annoying about the game is how the enemies appear out of nowhere all the time. It just doesn't feel right. And the sound FX are very weak, often leaving it unclear if you're getting hit or not.

The whole thing is an "acquired taste" that's for sure. It's not bad, it's just not satisfying or particularly fun either. I guess it's a thinking man's "shooter", but the blend of elements it has just doesn't work for me.

:2/5:

Falksi said:

I've yet to play SoR4, but I really don't like the look of the new graphics, nor the new characters either. I'll defo play it at some point but, from what I've seen & heard about it, it looks as if the devs don't "get" the SoR franchize tbh.

Click to expand...

Winterfart said:

Yeah, SoR4 feels opportunistic.
Trendy "indy" retro pixel art game published by a big name? Gimme a break!

Click to expand...

Nah, fellas, SoR4 is awesome! (Yes, so is SORR and I have unlocked all the characters on that.)

I especially like how the harder difficulties dont mess with the damage/life at all and just add way more enemies! MANIA setting is full on. (except with bosses, actually!!)

It's got all the characters from SOR1 through 3 but the new guys, including the remakes of Axl, Blaze, Adam, are the best.

Also, the enemies bounce off the edges of the screen which lets you juggle them a bit and feels way better than having them go off the edge of the screen.

And being able to catch thrown weapons as they bounce off heads is pretty neat, too.

Ive even got a screenshot to make this post look better fitting in the thread!

Further contribution is required!

Turbo (1989) - Amiga



Probably one of the lesser known Amiga games?

This game was great fun. Especially with two players in split-screen!

It even featured an online mode which was very rare in those days, though I never tried it.

Looking pretty rusty by modern standards but I feel like those who did get to play it will remember it fondly.

SirJames said:

Further contribution is required!

Turbo (1989) - Amiga

Probably one of the lesser known Amiga games?

This game was great fun. Especially with two players in split-screen!

It even featured an online mode which was very rare in those days, though I never tried it.

Looking pretty rusty by modern standards but I feel like those who did get to play it will remember it fondly.

Click to expand...

Love the death noise!

Blackthorne - PC/SNES/MEGADRIVE



Another Interplay "adventure" game, Blackthorne refines & futurizes Prince of Persia to create it's own little action-adventure romp, full of long haired men playing with their tools in murky caves. Over in Prince of Persia it's sunny & spicy, whilst back in Blackthorne it's dark & moody.

One of those games which should be brilliant, but is only OK. It does almost everything right. It controls well, the levels are layed out well, it's combat is fairly fun, it's interesting from an aesthetic & story perspective, and it's got loads going for it. The difficulty curve is spot on, and each level just gets that little bit trickier than the next. A potential classic in the making.

But it's fundamental flaw lies in the fact that it's 17 levels of the same thing over & over & over. Yes it forces you to think differently as the game progresses, but I got to around level 8 when I started thinking "fuckinghell, this is getting a bit samey".

Sometimes you just need a break of pace, and I was craving for that around half way through. It's a good game, and if someone were to say to me "fucking hell Falksi you soft twat, it's brilliant!" I would totally get where they're coming from. But for me it's just OK because of it's one dimensional gameplay.

:3/5:

Flashback was a better cinematic platformer.

Winterfart said:

Flashback was a better cinematic platformer.

Click to expand...

Should be playing that soon enough.

Such a shame with Blackthorn. I really took to it, but it just got so repetitive and tiresome. It really needed a few dumb, brain-off levels, and/or a few brain-fully-on puzzle levels (of a different style) to break things up.

Blades of Vengence - Megadrive



Never been near this before so was quite excited when I saw the setting. Golden Axe-esq Conan time, as you get to choose between a Amazon, Barbarian or Wizard & battle all the nasties of a far off fantasy realm.

Wasted potential here. The game goes to do all the right things, incorporating a few very light RPG elements such as weapon upgrades & the ability to collect or buy potions, having 3 different characters that all play a tiny bit different each other etc. But the game itself? well, it's just a bit bland & dull.

Biggest flaw is, like so many other games, you face the same enemies and rely on the same moves over & over. It's incredible what a difference this makes to that era, and how changing it up keeps so many games fresh. The Wizard is the most fun to play, as he chucks bolts around all over. I enjoyed it for a while with him. But playing as the other two is a dull affair (until you aprgrade the Amazon, but even though it's not as satisfying as the Wizard). I'm usually a sucker for games, or anything, with big tits & a bit of ass in, but this didn't win me over.

Another "meh", s'ok, doesn't hurt game which doesn't particularly stimulate either.

:2/5:

Brain Lord - SNES



This wasn't released in the UK, so first time playing it. S'alright.

Plays well enough, very responsive, nice mix of action & RPG elements for a game of that era especially the weapon variation. It's quite light hearted and focuses more on making money than saving the world etc. with a real casual vibe to everything.

It's really for folk who like puzzley dungeons though, which I don't mind as part of an RPG, but the dungeons form a massive bulk of this game. Whereas I prefer more of a balance like in say Link To The Past, where the outside world is as big a part of a game as the dungeons.

Worth checking out if you like dungeon crawler-esq games. Neat, but not spectacular.

:3/5:

Some people say this one is a gem, but every game that wasn't release in the west looked legendary and mysterious in the 90's…

Winterfart said:

Some people say this one is a gem, but every game that wasn't release in the west looked legendary and mysterious in the 90's…

Click to expand...

Aye, the mystery was half the appeal I guess.

Lagoon - SNES


^Look at how wank that attack is. Wank

First thing that struck me was how good the music was. Right from the very intro my toe was tapping & I was drawn in by it. However, no sooner had I started to get into it than I was drawn out of it by a few odd annoyances - such as the fact that the screen only scrolls when you get near the edge of it. Sounds weird, but I found it very off putting. Not only that, but the first village offers absolutely nothing of interest at all. "The water is muddy". That's yer lot Sir Wankalot. Not a great start.

So you go back & forth doing a few pointless bits & bobs before you even get equipped, and then into the first dungeon and BOOM! you're hit by the wankness of the wankest weapon ever. Honestly his sword is like a pathetic little letter opener. Yeah you get a few other extra attacks later, but none of it is particularly fun. And then you have the bizarre level design, which gives you the proper route to go, alongside dead ends with little of interest to find if you don't take the "correct" path. It's really fucking weird, because you'd expect said routes to lead to items or enemies or something, but they don't, they're just detours to nothing.

The bosses are probably the highlight of the game, some funky ones in there, but the crap weapon, generic story & overall gameplay just really put me off this all round. I returned to it a couple more times to see if I could be bothered to persist, but I couldn't. sorry, not for me this one at all.

:1/5:

Alex Kidd in Miracle World - Master System



So yeah, the console stuff is flowing & I guess that's how things have evolved so far, so I thought I'd pop on to the Mater System. Bizarrely, as a kid who was reeled in by the "Plug Me Into a SEGA" advert hook line & sinker, I never actually played this, despite owning many Sega games. I just always thought it looked gay.

Anyway, I really enjoyed playing it. It's bordering on child-like levels on simplicity, but for some reason I kept playing, dying & returning. It's paced very deliberately, and gives you a real nice freedom of choice of how to progress & at what speed. The punch mechanic is nice, even if the collision detection does feel a little off at times, and the levels are well designed to keep you interested & evolve naturally in yourself as you learn with each playthrough.

Ultimately, it's really a kids game which is novel and charming enough to push the right nostalgia buttons. It feels typical of a game of that era, but also leaves some of the more annoying traits from it behind too.

I'm not gonna get carried away, once you've had an hour or so on it you'll leave it for a good while, but it deserves a decent mark for all the positives above.

:3/5:

this topic brings tears to my eyes. i feel like old !
speaking of retro and old memories be sure to chekc this out

peterg said:

this topic brings tears to my eyes. i feel like old !
speaking of retro and old memories be sure to chekc this out

Click to expand...

Them were the days eh?

We will have them again! Somehow!

California Games - Master System




I used to fucking love this as a kid. and be California dreaming about one day actually doing these events for real. I was fucking brilliant on it, and could thrash all my mates hitting nearly perfect scores all the time. Be very interesting to see how both it & I fared now.

Well first of all, I've become pretty wank. Not dire, I could still hold my own against a beginner & I managed a few respectable scores, but I was about 25% of the player I used to be. As for the game itself it's still not bad actually. There are definitely stronger conversions of it that's for sure, the 16-bit Megadrive version for starters, but it still has a nice mix of pick up and play fun plus a good chunk of variety.

As with most games of this ilk, certain events are obviously more fun than others, and a lot of the time it's down to personal preference. It also contains the Frisbee events, which some conversions don't.

I don't know why anyone would choose this version over one of the better ones, but even if you did you'd still have a decent giggle.

3/5

I had that in the c64 and I remember sinking a lot of hours into it. I was never any good at these games though! I never played the master system version.

Defender of the Crown (Commodore Amiga)



I replayed the 1986 Amiga version of Defender of the Crown recently.

It's an iconic game. I remember seeing the graphics for the first time at a Commodore show in the 80s and being blown away. I cut out a screenshot of the catapult-castle siege mini-game from Zzap (I think) and had it bluetacked to my bedroom wall for years. It has a special status for me, is what I'm saying.

Returning to it now, decades later, the graphics are still great - crisp, colourful and atmospheric. The gameplay is relatively simple for a strategy game but still fun. The concept is that you are one of many lords fighting for the crown of the realm. This involves building armies, conquering lands, playing minigames, and at all costs defending your home castle.

The minigames are easy when you get the hang of them (although I don't think I ever got the hang of jousting) and eventually become a bit boring. There's at least some variety - jousting tournaments, raiding enemy castles, and besieging castles with catapults. The strategy elements also feel undercooked by today's standards - I find it hard to put them into the context of the time, perhaps they were more impressive then. Starting in Cornwall for example gives you an immediate advantage just because you're not surrounded by enemies, due to geography of England and Wales.

I still really like it though. It has a fantastic atmosphere to it. The romance options, whilst (as far as I can tell) irrelevant to gameplay, are a nice addition; the music is evocative and fitting; and there's a real sense of peril and drama as the warring lords conquer areas of the map and fight amongst themselves and, of course, you. Whilst it has undoubtedly dated, it's definitely still worth a look.

4/5

Pongo said:

Defender of the Crown (Commodore Amiga)

I replayed the 1986 Amiga version of Defender of the Crown recently.

It's an iconic game. I remember seeing the graphics for the first time at a Commodore show in the 80s and being blown away. I cut out a screenshot of the catapult-castle siege mini-game from Zzap (I think) and had it bluetacked to my bedroom wall for years. It has a special status for me, is what I'm saying.

Returning to it now, decades later, the graphics are still great - crisp, colourful and atmospheric. The gameplay is relatively simple for a strategy game but still fun. The concept is that you are one of many lords fighting for the crown of the realm. This involves building armies, conquering lands, playing minigames, and at all costs defending your home castle.

The minigames are easy when you get the hang of them (although I don't think I ever got the hang of jousting) and eventually become a bit boring. There's at least some variety - jousting tournaments, raiding enemy castles, and besieging castles with catapults. The strategy elements also feel undercooked by today's standards - I find it hard to put them into the context of the time, perhaps they were more impressive then. Starting in Cornwall for example gives you an immediate advantage just because you're not surrounded by enemies, due to geography of England and Wales.

I still really like it though. It has a fantastic atmosphere to it. The romance options, whilst (as far as I can tell) irrelevant to gameplay, are a nice addition; the music is evocative and fitting; and there's a real sense of peril and drama as the warring lords conquer areas of the map and fight amongst themselves and, of course, you. Whilst it has undoubtedly dated, it's definitely still worth a look.

4/5

Click to expand...

Remember reading about this in C&VG back in the day, but I was a console lad & my mate had the Amiga, so I never got to play it.

I'll have to give it a blast at some point. Sounds cool.

Defender of the Crown was an awesome game, I sunk quite a few hours into that one whilst quietly raging at my progress in Wizardry. Or not so quietly!