The Pop-Culture E-Zine
We love old toys and video game catalogues. We have previously featured the Toys “R” Us 1996 Christmas catalogue and the hefty 830+ page 1992 Christmas Sears, Roebuck & Co. ‘The Great American Wish Book’ to tickle your nostalgic nerve.
Well, now we present you with the 1991 Toys “R” Us (US) catalogue that features classic toys and some very classic video gaming systems that will definitely jolt your nostalgic nerve. Enjoy!
source: eBay
NFSA turns into Australia’s biggest video game arcade, featuring world’s greatest designers, characters & 100+ playable games!
Following a 6-year international tour and more than 1 million visitors, Game Masters: The Exhibition will return to Australia and make its Canberra debut at the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) from 27 September 2019 – 9 March 2020. The ultimate experience for gamers and families alike, Game Masters has been updated to include the latest gaming blockbusters as well as Australian creations.
Game Masters is an interactive journey through five decades of video game history, offering both a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process behind the world’s most popular characters and franchises, and a chance to play them. Featuring interviews, never-before-seen concept artwork, an amazing display of vintage consoles and collectable items, and more than 100 playable games, visitors won’t want to leave!
No matter whether you played Pong at the local milk bar in the 70s, or spent last night playing Fortnite on your phone, Game Masters has something for everyone: from the arcade era through to today’s eighth generation consoles and mobile game technology, and from the most popular video games on the planet to independent games with a cult-like following.
image source: Game Masters: The Exhibition Melbourne 2012
HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDED IN GAME MASTERS: THE EXHIBITION
The first section, Arcade Heroes spotlights pioneering designers from the trailblazing and revolutionary arcade era, including Shigeru Miyamoto (Donkey Kong, 1981), Ed Logg (Asteroids, 1979), Masanobu Endo (Xevious, 1982), Toru Iwatani (Pac-Man, 1980), Eugene Jarvis (Defender, 1980) and Tomohiro Nishikado (Space Invaders, 1978). During this period designers were not always recorded for posterity, as was the case for the featured games Scramble, 1981 developed by Konami and Elevator Action, 1983 developed by Taito.
Leading contemporary designers who have had a major impact on shaping the medium as we know it feature in the second section, Game Changers, including Blizzard Entertainment (Diablo III, 2012), Paulina Bozek (SingStar, 2004), Tetsuya Mizuguchi (Sega Rally Championship, 1995), Peter Molyneux OBE (Fable III, 2010), Yuji Naka and the Sonic Team (Sonic the Hedgehog, 1991), Sega (Alex Kidd in Miracle World, 1986), Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy (Rock Band 4, 2015), Tim Schafer (Broken Age, 2014), Yu Suzuki (Hang On, 1983), TT Games (LEGO Batman 3: beyond Gotham, 2014) and Will Wright (SimCity, 1989).
The third chapter of the exhibition, Indies explores the pioneering and future-focussed world of independent game designers. Artists such as Jonathan Blow (Braid, 2008), Capy (Critter Crunch, 2008), Ken Wong (Florence, 2018), Halfbrick (Fruit Ninja Kinect, 2011), Masaya Matsuura (PaRappa the Rapper, 1996), Markus ‘Notch’ Persson (Minecraft, 2014), Rovio (Angry Birds, 2009), Bennett Foddy (Getting Over It, 2017), thatgamecompany (Journey, 2012), and The Behemoth (Castle Crashers, 2008) are profiled in this section.
Game Masters also features unique experiences such as a spectacular multiplayer dance stage for Dance Central 3 (2012), hands-on experiential music booths and a selection of original classic arcade machines from the 1970s and ’80s acquired especially for the exhibition, all playable in their original form.
Game Masters: The Exhibition will be open to the public from 27 September 2019 to 9 March 2020 at the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) in Canberra. A program of special events and screenings will complement the exhibition for the duration of the season. Tickets will be available from 9 August 2019; audiences can sign up for Game Masters updates and special VIP ticket offers here.
Oz Comic Con Melbourne (2019) has come and gone. It is always a blast attending this event.
If you missed out on being there, don’t fret, our awesome photography team from REE Photography captured some awesome pics from Melbourne on the Queen’s Birthday weekend for you to enjoy and feel like you were there!
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REE Photography
The new and awesome photography service that captures all of your special moments from pop culture and gaming events.
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Zooming its way onto Steam is Renzo Racer, a fast and frantic kart racer with a lot of personality.
Who doesn’t love a good cart racer game from time to time, especially with friends! Renzo Racer is, as one would expect, a fairly cookie cutter style racing game. Choose from one of 16 different racers and around 20 tracks and prove your racing prowess against friends or the computer. Characters are full of charm and personality and the tracks are all interesting and diverse but the racing itself is a mixed bag. There are plenty of obstacles and hazards thrown into the tracks which add to the fun but weird AI can be a hassle when playing alone.
The physics model feels very realistic which is a little strange for a kart racing game and because of this everything feels a bit mismatched. While it does feel like a deliberate choice for the game it will throw off players thinking of a traditional kart racer. There is no easy way to slide into corners which means a more realistic driving approach needs to be taken and proper apex turns are required. Another issue is the barriers which are properly modelled not just invisible walls. Hitting a barrier at speed can cause your racer to flip or get stuck, leaving you spinning tyres for a few seconds until you eventually reset. Characters and tracks are unlocked very slowly by placing first in single race or Grand Prix modes, while a slow drip of content is nice only one character and track is available from the start.
It’s not all negatives though, the physics model definitely adds to the experience and getting used to it can reveal some nice tricks. Placing the bomb item down as a person is right behind you will give you a nice impromptu boost forwards and hitting a ramp just right can have you soar right over the competition. The character designs are all well done and it’s easy to start picking favourites depending on the kart shape and stats. There is a real charm to the whole feel of the game but it is often easy to see where other kart games have influenced Renzo Racer in its style.
A good game to try with a few friends for a good laugh as you knock each other about but single player can be a bit frustrating from time to time. From the wacky cast to the cute tracks, Renzo Racer is a game that definitely stands out from other Kart clone racers but not always in the best way.
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Mat Panek
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.
Follow Mat on Twitter and Twitch
Disclosure: Renzo Racer [Steam] was kindly provided by EnsenaSoft for this review.
Delve into the strange and cryptic world of She Remembered Caterpillars, a new puzzle game from Jumpsuit Entertainment.
She Remembered Caterpillars is an interesting puzzle game where it is your goal to move various little fungi creatures through a level so that each ends up resting on an exit tile. Adding to the complexity of these puzzles is the shape if the creatures casing, hard to explain but visually easy to understand. Different obstacles, activated bridges and restricting gates will allow or prevent movement depending on the specific shape of the fungi. Various mechanics are added slowly over the course of the game, leading to some real brain bending puzzles that feel very satisfying to complete.
Rather than being told overtly, there is a narrative of love and loss interwoven between the puzzles in little text segments between puzzles. Often times it is only a brief conversation between characters but other times it can be small stories that explain the state of the world overall. There is a nice mysterious feel to what exactly the story has to do with the game you are playing but it all feels very symbiotic. The drip feed of story elements has a very moreish appeal to it and I often found myself playing entire chapters when initially only planning to play a level or two.
There is a pleasing aesthetic to the microbe and fungus style in She Remembered Caterpillars that works real well with the puzzles. Backgrounds are generally subdued and all of the important puzzle elements are quite bright and vibrant, this really helps you to identify exactly what is going on at all times. The soundtrack is quite mellow and this results in a very chilled out feel to the game which can help when puzzles start to get taxing.
She Remembered Caterpillars is a wonderful puzzle game with funky visuals and a surprisingly deep story. There is a real hidden depth in this title that is sure to win many over.
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Mat Panek
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.
Follow Mat on Twitter and Twitch
Disclosure: She Remembered Caterpillars [Nintendo Switch] was kindly provided by Stride PR for this review.
Tetris has always been a killer title for millions of gamers around the world. If you had a Game Boy, then we bet that you have played Tetris. Now, imagine playing Tetris on a mechanical display instead of digital. That’s hard to imagine, right?
Well, looks like Sinowin does imagine such things! Sinowin took a small computer, added a joystick and connected these to an old-school elongated flip-dot display, you know, like the ones that show the departure and arrival times at airports. No matter the platform, Tetris still remains a killer game, even on a flip-dot display. This is so damn cool!
source: sinowin
[story source: technabob.com]
Soaring majestically through the trees and onto the Nintendo Switch is Feather, The latest game from Samurai Punk Game Studios.
After a real tough week, I grabbed the switch, put my feet up and started playing Feather. Best described as a relaxing bird simulator, Feather was possibly the best choice for a Friday afternoon wind down game. Starting a new game puts you in control of a bird and displays the game’s simple controls, from there it’s totally up to you. Whether you choose to soar through the clouds or dart between trees in the forest, there is an entire island for you to explore. There are no threats to stop you or put on the pressure, Feather is a “Make your own fun” kind of game and sometimes that’s what everyone needs.
Feather uses a simplified graphic style and does so extremely effectively. The game looks gorgeous, with interesting terrain and scenery spread across every corner of the island. There are subtle hints of previous civilisation, from overgrown ruins to half submerged pipes and these touches add some nice mystery to the general feel of the island. Accompanying the visuals is a beautiful sound track that is also very relaxing. Throughout the world of Feather there are rings with ripples inside them that will change the current track playing and if you prefer one to another, just head back and reactivate it. The songs are usually contextual to the environment that the ring is in and finding each of these is a nice little side goal.
Pushing the game beyond just flying through the air, I found some nice little details that are easy to miss at first glance. Swooping along the ground will kick up dust and the controller vibrates, giving you a real sense of speed and hitting water will actually cause you to dive underwater like real birds of prey do. Flying into leaves or clouds will leave a satisfying puff of debris in your wake and there is even a portal that takes you to the highest point so you can skydive towards the island. The passive online mode is also a nice touch, I found myself chasing other players through trees and criss-crossing paths before breaking off and continuing on my adventure.
Feather may not seem very in depth, lacking missions, objectives or goals but that is the purpose here, it is a beautifully elegant and simple game. If you are looking for something relaxing to take your mind off things, Feather is a wonderful experience.
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Mat Panek
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.
Follow Mat on Twitter and Twitch
Disclosure: Feather [Nintendo Switch] was kindly provided by Samurai Punk for this review.
Nighty night, but don’t let the floor bite! Sleepwalk your way through Back to Bed, a dreamy puzzle game that has just arrived to the Nintendo Switch.
Back to Bed is a game that perfectly looks and feels like a bizarre dreamscape, from flying bowler hats to eyes of every shape and size watching you from walls, windows and inside oysters. You must guide Bob, through levels of increasing difficulty, back to bed using a small impish creature with Bob’s face. Using only objects found in the dreams, such as apples and fish, you nudge the sleepwalking Bob through his bedroom door and into the safety of his bed’s embrace.
Like all good puzzle games, controls are kept simple and precise. Often puzzles involve figuring out the safest route for Bob through the dream world, other times there is real timing required as you move objects in to and out of Bob’s way. Bob always walks straight forward and will turn clockwise when bumping into an object. New mechanics are introduced slowly as you progress and each is accompanied by a wonderfully vague reverse modulated voice instructing that “The clock turns Bob-wise” or “The Dog is not your friend”. Completing all the levels lets you unlock the “Nightmare” mode which requires you to not only solve the level but to also make Bob grab a key to unlock the bedroom door along the way. Falling off the world edge or being hit by an enemy will cause you to lose the key and reset which means there is some real challenge to this mode.
Back to Bed’s art style is fantastic, combining Escher aesthetics in the level designs with Dali-esque and other surrealist art styles to make a fantastical and sometimes unsettling dreamscape for Bob to wander. Between groups of levels there are images of Bob and his imp’s progress done in a similar dream style with words incorporated into the images in various ways. Back to Bed has a wonderfully distinct and almost storybook charm to it.
So grab the Switch, tuck yourself in and prepare for some not so sweet dreams, Back to Bed is a puzzle game you certainly shouldn’t miss.
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Mat Panek
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.
Follow Mat on Twitter and Twitch
Disclosure: Back To Bed [Nintendo Switch] was kindly provided by 2Awesome Studio for this review.
Time to get stuck in a loop with Mars Underground, a groundhog day style adventure game from Moloch Media on the PC.
It’s Mars’ first day at a new school in a new town, except it’s always his first day since he keeps reliving the same day over and over. In Mars Underground you progress by exploring, gaining knowledge and exploiting that information daily to unravel the reasons why you are stuck in this time loop. Each cycle begins the same way with your alarm going off and Mars struggling to get out of bed, where you go from there is entirely up to you and dependant on what you have discovered to that point. Skip school and go to the movies to see “One Banana, Two Banana” or try and get into the local cool nightclub. At the end of each day you must take your medication, fall asleep and start again.
There is a very Earthbound look to Mars Underground which suits the style of exploration and discovery perfectly, other effects are layered with this to reinforce that unsettling feeling that is ever present. Sound design matches these visuals with chiptune styled effects and music, eerie soundscapes add to the ever claustrophobic nature present in the narrative. It’s not all doom and gloom though, ominous threats such as men in black, the military, Aliens and shady hooded figures are equally balanced with some good humour.
Every choice you make will lead you down another path but this can sometimes lead to the same burn out some will suffer with classic point and click adventure games. Solutions can be so obvious that you might completely glaze over them and others are so obtuse you might not approach them in the exact way needed to succeed. Missed a specific time period that event takes place? Take your pills and try again. Mars Underground definitely captures the sense of repetition one would feel reliving the same day over and over but it can begin to feel a bit much at times.
If complex and intriguing time travel stories are your thing though, Mars Underground is a wonderfully unique adventure that has so many hidden layers for players to find.
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Mat Panek
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.
Follow Mat on Twitter and Twitch
Disclosure: Mars Underground [Steam] was kindly provided by Moloch Media for this review.
Delve into a world of alchemy and mystery in Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World, the latest title in the long running Ateliers series by Koei Tecmo.
The game starts as Nelke, a young and eager noble woman, and her ever faithful maid Misty arrive in the small town of Westwald. The two have made their way there after hearing rumours that an ancient sage relic of immense power, the Granzweit Tree, is possibly in the region. Nelke’s father agreeing to support her on this quest only if she becomes governor of the town and proves herself to be a worthy leader. You must help Nelke turn this sleepy village into the bustling city of commerce her father desires, all while making new friends, meeting challenges and exploring the surrounding countryside.
Being personally unfamiliar with the world of Ateliers and it’s 20 year history of titles, Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists’ story felt a little daunting at first but all the characters introduced are also unknown to Nelke and their introductions reflect this. The game gives subtle backstories where needed through bits of dialog and character interaction. Characters are out of place and in some cases out of time, fans will no doubt love the return of series famous alchemists and newcomers will enjoy being introduced to the varied cast.
There are 3 main areas of gameplay in Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists, being broken down into turns and each turn involves weekdays and holidays with various actions for each. Weekdays include town management such as construction of various buildings or facilities, commissioning alchemy and working on town requests. Holidays on the other hand give you a chance to visit and develop relationships with towns folk, as well as a chance to explore the region, finding materials or battle monsters.
There is a lot going on in Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists, micromanagement is key to success as you need to assign tasks to alchemists and store owners constantly, depending on production demands and town needs. Tasks such as gathering specific materials or defeating certain monsters will often challenge you and keep the game from feeling stagnant. The battle system is refined yet simple with an option for semi and full auto attack modes, this means low powered enemies will be dealt with rather quickly, keeping the game’s pace moving steadily forward. That being said, there is a lot to take in very quickly between the various mechanics and sub-systems and this might put off some players.
One real stand out attribute in Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists is the anime graphic styling. The game has a beautiful aesthetic overall making it feel bright and cheerful. Most of the character interactions are told by visual novel interface with Japanese voice overs for the cast. Fans of anime and the Ateliers series will really appreciate these visual stylings and especially the gorgeous full animation sequences.
Overall, Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists is a beautiful and in depth title with a lot on offer between the multiple systems at play. Some may find it a bit too complex but others will happily spend dozens of hours making Westwald their perfect home away from home.
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Mat Panek
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.
Follow Mat on Twitter and Twitch
Disclosure: Nelke and the Legendary Alchemists [Nintendo Switch] was kindly provided by Turn Left Distribution for this review.