The Pop-Culture E-Zine
One of the better Atari 2600 video games, Activision’s MEGAMANIA, has now been expertly and lovingly ported to the Commodore 64 by the very clever and prolific game dev, Nick Sherman of Arla Games!
The best part is, MEGAMANIA 64 is totally free! What are you waiting for? Grab the game and fire up your Commodore 64 and get blasting!
image source: Arla Games
With everything going on in the world right now, you’d be forgiven for missing some big (geeky) news. Thanks to our friends (Phil and Kristy – you guys rock!), we’ve been informed that Lego will be releasing a new playset and characters based on Nintendo’s coveted franchise, Super Mario!
The below video hints at what fans can expect when LEGO Super Mario launches later this year, showing a player using an interactive Mario figure collecting coins in a real-life game level that has been created with LEGO bricks.
source: ProsafiaGaming
Reading through the press release, this passage made us get quite giddy,
“Neither a video game nor a traditional LEGO brick-based set, LEGO® Super Mario™ is a new product line that features an interactive LEGO Mario figure who collects coins in real-life game levels created with LEGO bricks. The new line will let kids experience the playful world of Super Mario like never before.”
To say we are excited would be the biggest understatement of 2020! We can’t wait for this to be released (later this year)!
source: Lego
If you’ve ever walked the streets of NYC, Graham Davis’ The Snidewalk game will hit home!
Using an 8-bit aesthetic, and tunes to match, this free (desktop or smartphone) game, sees the player walking the NYC streets, with the premise being that you must avoid all obstacles to gain points, from the pesky cat and the unpredictable delivery rider, to the Instagramers taking photos on the footpath and the mass of dog walkers.
We failed miserably on our first attempt, only hitting The Pizza Rat! Right, time to hit the pavement yet again, see ya!
[story source: Laughing Squid]
There is no better way to start (or end) the working day than with some Mario (meme) shenanigans. Since it still is MAR10 Day somewhere on the planet, we thought, life is too serious, let’s have a laugh together!
You are in big trouble now, Mario!
Size does not matter
The irony of the hipster Mario
Mario, the cosplay pioneer!
The collective say, “Awwwwww, how cute!”
Wa-hoo, it’s that time of year when we celebrate the greatest video game character of all time, that little Nintendo plumber who likes to munch of mushrooms, Mario! Or should that be Mar10? 😉
To celebrate (Super) MAR10 Day, we encourage you all to play one of his many many games, from the classic platformers, adventure, karting, to tennis, party games and even his old school Game & Watch based games!
Today is the day we honour one of the most iconic video game characters of all time. We are going to celebrate by playing something very old and also one of our favourite Mario games of all time. Oh yeah, we may even throw on a pair of overalls to get right into this great day!
Which Mario game will you play in celebration of MAR10 Day? Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook to share the Mario love.
Oh yeah! One of our favourite SNK arcade games from the late 80s, P.O.W.: Prisoners Of War, is now incarcerated on the Nintendo Switch and PS4!
This side-scrolling beat’em up was a staple for us in the arcade. Once you lit the fuse to break free from your jail cell, then all hell broke loose as you punched, kicked, jumped and shot your way out to freedom by taking out the enemy’s main base and their leader. Getting to the chopper didn’t get better than this. The best part of the game was having a buddy with you (Player 2) to play co-op and cause as much havoc and mayhem in your prison break adventure!
We are quite chuffed to now be able line up our coins to play P.O.W. Prisoners Of War on our Switch, either on the go or on our humongous LCD TV to take in all that raster graphics goodness!
Title: Arcade Archives P.O.W. PRISONERS OF WAR
Platform: Nintendo Switch™/PlayStation®4
Price: from US$7.99 / £6.29 / AU$10.50
Players: 1-2
image source: HAMSTER Co. Arcade Archives
It is fair to say that when it comes to visual compendiums, no one does it better than Bitmap Books. We love all of our visual compendiums in our library, and it looks like that this new one based on Sega’s 8-bit console, the Master System, will compliment the series perfectly.
Back in the mid 80s, it was all about the Commodore 64 and Amiga when it came to gaming. Consoles were an afterthought during this period, till Sega released their Master System in the west. Known as the Sega Mark III in its home country (Japan), the western version (Master System) made a decent splash once it hit the market towards the end of 1987. The Master System grabbed our attention back then due to Sega’s arcade pedigree, with their arcade conversions looking and playing much better than their equivalent on the 8-bit micros. It is unbelievable to think that the Master System had a massive following in the west (bar North America), where the NES played second fiddle to it. This visual compendium is for all those folks that transitioned from their 8-bit computers to Sega’s venerable 8-bit beast. Even if you didn’t own the Master System, if you got to play on it, then this book will bring back a lot of memories by inducing that lovely drug we call nostalgia.
This visual compendium is a tribute to the amazing pixel art, product design and graphic design associated with Sega’s classic 8-bit console. Having the official backing and license from Sega, this is the first book of this kind to be released for the Master System. As the title suggests, the visuals are the main focus, with 200-word soundbites of text accompanying each single game spread. With around 200 games covered in this tome, you are sure to get an eye-full of nostalgic candy. But wait, there is more! There are a series of larger features and interviews with developers and artists, like Mutsuhiro Fujii, Takashi Shoji, Steve Hanawa and Rieko Kodama to name just a few, ensuring a good mix of words with gorgeous visuals.
With any published Bitmap Books tome, you are assured of holding a premium quality product in your hands, from the lenticular heavy board slipcase, spot varnished cover, printed lithography and vibrant colours throughout, the standard is nothing short of high! Oh yeah, each book also comes with a set of old school 3D Glasses – now that is cool!
If you are (or were) remotely interested in the Master System or you actually played on one (or was lucky to own one back in the day), then this visual compendium is for you! We highly recommend this awesome book.
The lowdown:
Disclosure: SEGA Master System: A Visual Compendium was provided by Pixel Crib for this review.
We love celebrating anniversaries, especially the big milestones like new consoles that were released in Australia!
With that said, on this day [March 1] in 1997, Nintendo officially released the Nintendo 64 in Australia (and other PAL regions, like Europe).
We actually bought the Nintendo 64 on day one and immediately were hooked on Super Mario 64 and the fog-riddled Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. Once we played Wave Race 64 and later on, Mario Kart 64, we knew we made the right decision (and our PS1 was quickly packed away in favour of the N64!).
The Nintendo 64 provided many highlights for us, including all-night gaming sessions with friends and family – that GoldenEye 007 was an addiction y’all (and still is)!
We could go on and on about the Nintendo 64, but we would love to hear your memories about Nintendo’s last cartridge based console – hit us up on Twitter or Facebook.
Even though I have been gaming for over three decades, I am still your average gamer. The 80s arcade games definitely toughened me and sharpened my skills, but there were some games that no matter how sharp I was, I could never beat them.
The following list of wickedly difficult games is an admission of sorts that I never got to see the end credits. Heck, I don’t even think I saw more than a few levels (without cheating) on any of these games.
What are some of your most hardest games ever played? Let us know via Twitter or Facebook.
Contra / Gryzor / Probotector
Ghosts’n Goblins
Mega Man
Battletoads
Bionic Commando
Green Beret / Rush’n Attack
Impossible Mission
Robotron:2084
Rolling Thunder
Defender
Robocop
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
ESWAT: Ciyt Under Siege
Slap Fight
Hellfire
Rick Dangerous
Airwolf
Paperboy
Game Over
They may have been a bit late to the handheld LCD party (which Nintendo’s Game & Watch series were the life of that party), but Sega did manage to leverage their might by offering some of their iconic arcade games to be ported to the Pocket Arcade platform.
The Pocket Arcade (LCD based) series of games were developed by everyone’s favourite LCD gaming manufacturer (Ed: tongue firmly in cheek!), Tiger Electronics. Under license by Sega, Tiger Electronics made the Pocket Arcade series from (about) 1994 till 1997. These LCD based games were primarily sold in North America, meaning that they are scarce anywhere else. Being Tiger, many of the Pocket Arcade games in the series were reskinned versions of previous LCD games, but there were quite a few that were new.
image source: eBay
One of the unique features to set the Pocket Arcade games from their LCD gaming brethren is the ‘conceal and reveal’ feature. The clam-shell keeps the game safe (and off) in your pocket, so once you are ready to play, just hit the button to flip, pop or pivot the screen, which also turns on the game. When you are done playing, just close the unit and stick it back in your pocket.
So what Sega Pocket Games games could you get? Here is the series list, thanks to Sega Retro. Don’t all raid eBay at once!
Red cover series:
Blue cover series:
source: ClassicAds