Australia's Retro Gaming and Pinball E-Zine
Welcome to the new feature on ausretrogamer.com – Top 5 Games Charts from years gone by. This feature will become a regular.
Ensure you check back often for these gaming charts (or subscribe) to see if an old favourite was in the top 5 ! [Read more…] about Top 5 Games Charts: Dec 1992
Collecting ‘rare’ retro gaming systems can be heaps of fun, but you need to have a rough idea how sought after a retro gaming system is. Usually, the principle works like this – the rarer the system is, the more it will cost. This guide is exactly that, a guide, or a companion to assist you in your research of older gaming machines. Happy hunting ! [Read more…] about Retro Gaming: System Rarity Guide
Right from the outset, NEC faced an uphill battle in launching their console in the US market. Not only didn’t they know their market, they also faced the impending release of the 16-bit Sega Genesis. [Read more…] about TurboGrafx-16: What is in a name
Written by: J.P. Hays
Hey there ! My name is J.P. Hays, more commonly known on the net as Amadeus484. I am an avid collector of all things vintage computing and gaming, and I also enjoy studying various topics on the subject of vintage computing. I also enjoy doing experiments on my vintage and modern computers. The following post is one of those experiments, done about 4 months ago. Presenting – “Exactly how compatible IS the PC compatible ?”.
[Read more…] about Exactly how compatible IS the PC compatible ?
April 23, 1982: Sir Clive Sinclair gave the world, the ZX Spectrum. This 8-bit wonder took the UK by storm. It proved so popular that it was in production till 1992. It celebrates its 30th birthday today. So, to you, the ZX Speccy, we wish you a happy 30th birthday. May you celebrate many more to come !
By the numbers:
Launch Date: 23 April 1982
Launch Price: £125 (16KB), £175 (48KB)
Dimensions: 232x144x30mm
Weight: 552g
Processor: Zilog Z80A (running at 3.5MHz)
RAM: 16/48KB
ROM: 16KB
Onboard Language: Sinclair BASIC
Display: 32×24 characters, 256×192 pixels
Colours: Eight available (plus seven variations)
Sound: Internal speaker (buzzing)
Interesting key technical component: The ULA (Uncommitted Logic Array) chip, aka: the ‘glue chip’, combines the functions of several chips and controls the I/O functions.
Following on from the Genealogy of the PC-Engine, the natural progression was to document the list of HuCard games released on this magnificent console.
The list of PC-Engine HuCard games is to assist would-be gamers with details of games released for the console and its TurboGrafx counterpart.
Have you tried to understand the NEC PC-Engine range of consoles and been totally confused or lost ? Don’t worry, you are not alone.
We have tapped our inner genealogist and have created the NEC PC-Engine Family Tree. The tree shows the lineage of native consoles, per region, and their media type.
Hopefully, this family tree makes things clearer and a tad easier to understand the NEC PC-Engine console range.
click above image to expand it to its full glory!
Note:
In dedication to the fabulous Konami scrolling fighter, Contra – Happy 25th Birthday !
Midnight, September 12 2631. The Marines catch sight of a small-sized meteorite that is fast approaching Earth. The meteorite plummets 20km north-east of New Zealand, at the Gal Mosquito Archipelago. The command keep watch of the meteorite.
Two years later, in December 2633, an intruder known as the Red Falcon is occupying the Gal Mosquito Archipelago and is planning the fall of mankind. Command orders confidential investigations at the enemy’s front base. The marine post orders two “Contra” soldiers, Private First Class Bill “Mad Dog” Rizer and Private First Class Lance “Scorpion” Bean on a mission. The mission being: penetrate the insides of the enemy, destroy the front base and the entire centre of operation.
Manufacturer: Konami Developer: Konami
Year: 1987 (Feb)
Genre: Scrolling Fighter / Run and Gun shooter
Maximum number of players: 2
Gameplay: Joint
Joystick: 8-way
Buttons: 2 (Shoot and Jump)
Sound: Amplified Mono (single channel)
Cabinet: Upright Standard
“The President has been kidnapped by Ninjas. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue The President?”
The opening line uttered by the Secret Service agent immediately stirs the street fighter within you. Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja can be played in single player mode as Blade (in white pants); or in two player co-op mode – the second player controlling Striker (in green pants).
Blade and Striker’s mission is simple: rescue President Ronnie by pummeling all kinds of evil martial artists across seven levels within the allotted time. The attack moves at your disposal are fairly basic: low, middle, and high kicks. Each fighter can also perform a mega punch by holding down the attack button.
Should Blade or Striker get the better of their armed opponent, they can pick up the dropped weapon, be it a knife or nunchuks, and use it to extend their attack range. This comes in handy for the end-of-level bosses. Speaking of bosses, even Karnov makes an appearance.
Once you have ploughed through evil-doers across seven levels, you reach the final boss – the one and only, Mr Dragon Ninja himself. Defeat this evil kingpin and it is happy times as President Ronnie is freed from his kidnappers.
After the popularity of Double Dragon in 1987, it was inevitable that arcade developers would make 1988 a co-op beat’em up fest to cash in on the genre’s popularity.
The late 80’s was truly the Golden Era of beat’em ups. Grab a mate, and hit Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja.
Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja:
Manufacturer: Nihon Bussan / AV Japan
Developer: Data East
Year: 1988
Genre: Beat’em Up (side scrolling fighter)
Maximum number of players: 2
Gameplay: Joint (co-operative)
Joystick: 8-way
Buttons: 2 (Attack and Jump)
Sound: Amplified Mono (single channel)
Cabinet: Upright Standard
Levels: 7 (Street, Truck, Sewers, Forest, Train, Cave and Dragon Ninja HQ / helicopter)
The PC-Engine console, a collaboration between Hudson Soft and NEC, was released late 1987 in Japan and mid 1989 in North America. NEC changed the name in the US to the TurboGrafx-16. The US unit also had a facelift, it was bulkier (and uglier) compared to its smaller, sleeker Japanese counterpart.
