The Pop-Culture E-Zine
Well now that we have seen everything that 2023 has to offer, let’s get to 2024!
Seeing this amazing creation on Twitter this morning totally blew our mind. The engineering feat is off the charts. We wonder if this is Duke Nukem’s games room…….
And before you start screaming about aspect ratios, just chill, relax and be in awe of this crazily awesome thingamajig!
Ce truc de dingue 😱 pic.twitter.com/F2PAm29rE8
— Lulu&Berlu -PC Engine & Evercade- (@VolcanoGriffon) January 16, 2023
By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.
Playing “Star Wars Pinball” on my Nintendo Switch will never be as entertaining and fun as actually playing a standing pinball machine in an arcade or restaurant, but it comes pretty close.
When I purchased “Star Wars Pinball” before Christmas, I had no idea how much I would end up playing it in my spare time. I really enjoy playing pinball in my living room; I never thought it would be possible. Sometimes, I play it on my Switch when I’m in the backyard or I’ll play a quick game in the car when I’m waiting for someone. When I start playing “Star Wars Pinball” it’s hard to put my controller or Switch down. It took me a few days to explore every table option. My highest score is on the “Return of the Jedi” table with somewhere around 16 million.
I play “Star Wars Pinball” the way I watch the films; I usually stick to the original trilogy, and by “original” I mean the “A New Hope,” “The Empire Strikes Back,” and “Return of the Jedi.” However, the “Rogue One” table is a blast to play. Gareth Edwards’ “Rogue One” is my favorite Star Wars film behind “Empire.” Orson Krennic is prominently featured on the “Rogue One” pinball table. Ben Mendelsohn, who played Krennic, is underrated in the 2016 film. Krennic is sort of a tragic character; he’s the villain who’s killed by what he created and believed in.
The voices sound nothing like the original Star Wars actors, like James Earl Jones and Mark Hamill. Han Solo sounds like a voice actor attempting to do a poor, Harrison Ford impression.
My favorite pinball option is the Boba Fett table. Jabba the Hutt makes a cameo, and you can hit the ball into the Sarlacc that’s at the top of the table. Some of my highest scores are playing the Fett and the “Return of the Jedi” tables. The “Jedi” table has so many lights and colorful features that it’s difficult to see the ball at times. I like it when you’re playing the Fett table and the play stops as Darth Vader comes out, and tells Boba Fett, forcefully, “No disintegrations.” You get an appearance from Vader and Jabba the Hutt; probably my two favorite characters in the Star Wars universe.
The Boba Fett themed table is a pinball machine that you’d find in Jabba’s Palace, if it wasn’t fictional. It feels authentic to the Tatooine location that George Lucas created. Although, I don’t understand why they have Han Solo frozen in carbonite, hanging over the Sarlacc.
“Star Wars Pinball” has quickly become one of my favorite Switch games. Yet, “FIFA ’23” is still my go-to game.
Star Wars Pinball,Nintendo Switch,DC Cutler, David Cutler,Star Wars,Pinball,Star Wars Pinball on Nintendo Switch,gamer,gaming,videogames,gamers,Darth Vader
The Arcade1Up Pinball machines have recently received a new lease of life with community enhancements, like Team Encoder’s brilliant A1Pinner software, which allowed owners of these machines to install other Arcade1Up pinball packs (Marvel, Star Wars and Williams) and the Pinball Arcade and Zen Pinball applications (Android versions) with their plethora of pinball tables. Team Encoder went as far as creating a custom launcher and the ability to change the display to 1080p, which was a bit of a hit or miss due to the limited hardware spec inside these pinball machines.
We came across IntecGaming’s Nintendo Switch DIY Pinball kit about a year ago and have been eagerly awaiting its release. Once IntecGaming had this kit up for pre-order, we immediately jumped on it. The improvement is great value with this low cost kit, and of course, playing video games, especially the pinball (and shoot’em ups) variety in 1080p is exactly what this machine should have had from the start.
The IntecGaming Switch DIY Pinball kit is a physical modification to the Arcade1Up Pinball Machine, so we had to get our hand dirty so to speak. With no soldering required, this was as easy as unplugging the old and replacing them with the new! Of course the control panel with its ball-top joystick provides the arcade experience we were missing when playing Switch games.
Without further ado, here are the steps (with photos) that we took to operate and modify our A1Up Attack From Mars pinball machine:
Time to commence Operation Switch!
Unboxing the contents of the IntecGaming Switch DIY Pinball Kit: We need to replace 3 boards (marked A, B and C)
One last look at the machine before we start operating
Popping the hood
Popping the rear to get to the smaller (DMD) screen
Following the instructions to unplug the controller wiring from the old board and connect them to the new (A) board
Board A attached and controller connectors rerouted to plug into the new board
Next, is the sound and solenoid driver board (board B)
Second board is totally removed from the A1Up and replaced by IntecGaming’s Board B
The metal casing is replaced with a breathable plastic cover for Board B
The main board hiding in its metal casing attached to the LCD
Last of the board updates – replace the main board with IntecGaming’s Board C
The original main board is unplugged
Got to follow the instructions carefully here, as any wrong move will render the machine an expensive doorstop!
Wiring up the replacement main board (Board C) and putting it back in the casing. Having two HDMI out ports is a godsend!
With the boards replaced and connections all plugged in, it’s the control panel that the last thing to add
The new replacement lockdown bar is beefier than the original!
All modifications completed!
Instructions to sync the control panel and kit to the Switch
The plastic stand is perfect to keep the Switch and dock tucked away
Switch is docked, 3.5mm sound jack & HDMI are plugged in too
Success! All powered up and ready to go! The DMD LCD acts as our selection screen
First game we boot up, Zen’s Pinball FX 3!
Going to put the original boards & other parts in a safe place
There were a couple of things we were looking forward to this year, Stern Pinball’s Insider Connected Kit for our Star Wars pinball machine, and IntecGaming’s Nintendo Switch Panel for our Arcade1Up (virtual) pinball machine.
Well, it was almost 2 for 2 in 2022, however, our Stern Pinball Insider Connected kit was delivered incomplete – which means we will have to wait for the next boat to arrive down under.
On the flip side, the IntecGaming panel for our A1Up pinball machine arrived and we can’t wait to get it installed! Just in case you have no idea what this thing is or does, check out our previous post here.
We will write about our exploits of getting this mod installed, so stay tuned (and wish us luck)!
We are late to Atari’s 50th Anniversary party, but we are glad that we are!
We waited to see what everyone thought of the compilation before pulling the trigger, and it has been overwhelmingly positive – which was great to see! With 100 games, surely you’d find several absolute gems.
Since we wanted the Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration in physical format, we inadvertently stumbled upon the JB Hi-Fi exclusive Steelbook Edition pre-order, which will be available on November 25th. Well, without hesitation, we put in our pre-order and can’t wait for this Friday to roll around!
Anyone else grabbing the Steelbook Edition for the Nintendo Switch?
image source: Five Star Games
Almost a year ago we were gushing over IntecGaming’s Nintendo Switch Arcade Control Panel for the Arcade1Up pinball machines. It was promised to be released in 2022, and it now looks like IntecGaming has kept that promise!
What tech are we most excited for in 2022?
Welllll, for us, it is the IntecGaming Nintendo Switch Arcade Control Panel for our Arcade1up Pinball machine!#pinball #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/UDaKgqKrzN— ausretrogamer (@ausretrogamer) May 20, 2022
If you have an Arcade1Up Pinball machine (even if you have modded with the additional Zen Pinball games), this new DIY Kit will take your A1Up Pinball machine to another level! We don’t have firm specs yet, but from the few bits and pieces we have found in our research, this kit will let you play your Switch games on the vertical screen, complete with an arcade joystick and buttons control panel for that authentic arcade feel. Of course you will still be able to use the flipper buttons on the side of the cabinet for your pinball gaming fix! For the Switch games that aren’t vertical (TATE), they can still be played, albeit in a letterboxed view on the vertical screen. The DIY kit will require tinkering to get setup, but we reckon it will be totally worth it.
We are just excited to play all of our vertical games using this kit, especially our library of shoot’em ups and pinball games (hello The Pinball Arcade, Pinball FX 3 and Stern Pinball Arcade!). This will breath a new life into our Arcade1Up Pinball machine.
The pre-order period begins on Halloween (Oct 31st U.S. time), with a special price of US$119.99! Who is in? We most certainly are.
PS: If you want to see this kit in action, check out ToyKade’s review video now!
image source: IntecGaming
Yeah, you read that title right! Thanks to the hard and meticulous work over the last 7 years, Metroid Mike 64 has created Super Mario Bros. 5 using Super Mario Maker 2.
Metroid Mike 64 has fused classic NES/SNES 2D Mario platforming action with 40 full courses spread across 8 worlds. He has used elements from Super Mario World, Super Mario Bros. 3 and the one that started it all, Super Mario Bros.
We reckon Shigeru Miyamoto would be quite impressed with Metroid Mike 64’s wonderful creation! What are you waiting for, grab the Maker ID (0G9-XN4-FNF) and have some fun!
I’ve finally finished creating my Super World in Mario Maker 2 and have unofficially named it Super Mario Bros 5. I’ve been working towards this moment since 2015, trying to create a classic Mario game that plays as if Nintendo created it themselves. pic.twitter.com/eUNvHQysVq
— Metroid Mike 64 (@MetroidMike64) September 25, 2022
The gameplay is all classic Mario. I’m not trying to troll you or purposely try to kill you, I’m trying to provide you with something Nintendo should’ve done already, make a full Mario game within Super Mario Maker 2, that’s fun as heck! pic.twitter.com/EXCiPtvsPp
— Metroid Mike 64 (@MetroidMike64) September 25, 2022
Unique course design like this airship course that’s made to look like a tank. This is Wendy’s Battletank of Doom. pic.twitter.com/lYQPKBaLNY
— Metroid Mike 64 (@MetroidMike64) September 25, 2022
source: Metroid Mike 64 via Twitter
With the explosion in popularity of Formula 1 (Ed: thanks to Drive to Survive), it is great timing to have a game like Formula Bit Racing DX hit our gaming consoles!
So why is Formula Bit Racing DX great? Well, firstly it is a lot of fun to play! Secondly, we love its influence from classic arcade racing games from the 80s and early 90s, so if you enjoyed games like Super Sprint, RC Pro-Am, Super Skidmarks, Micro Machines, Super Off-Road Racing, to name just a few, then you will absolutely love this game from 2Awesome Studio!
The charm of this game is its low-poly HD graphics and top-down/isometric point of view of the race track, coupled with great control and the challenges thrown at the racer before they cross the finishing line.
Borrowing elements from iconic arcade racing games, Formula Bit Racing DX builds on this pedigree with a few modern twists, including the aforementioned gorgeously crisp low-polygon HD grx, catchy retro soundtrack and of course, the 20 fun circuits to race on with one of 10 unique cars! The exciting gameplay that the genre is known for is perfectly captured by Formula Bit Racing DX – lots of high speed action and skill series which are quite easy to get into, but mastering the control to turn, drift on the racing track is what keeps you coming back to it. The only thing we wish this game had was the ability to play against your friends, but the game is still solid playing solo.
At well under AU$10.00, this game is absolutely and totally worth grabbing, no matter your console – Xbox, PlayStation or Nintendo Switch. So go ahead, start your engines and prepare for the craziest and most addictive racing you’ll experience today!
Let’s get one thing straight, we are checking out the digital version of the Wonder Boy Collection, which is vastly different from the physical boxed edition from Strictly Limited Games. Just so you guys are informed, this digital version contains 4 Wonder Boy games, whereas the Strictly Limited Games (physical) edition has all 6 of the classic Wonder Boy titles, plus every Master System, Mega Drive/Genesis, Game Gear and arcade versions of those games, both in English and Japanese, for a grand total of 21 games – so you see, there is a pretty big difference!
OK, we have got that out of the way, let’s get into the 4 games that you get in the digital version of the Wonder Boy Collection. First off the bat (and our absolute favourite, because we grew up with it) is the arcade version of Wonder Boy (1986). The next one is another arcade version, Wonder Boy In Monster Land (1987), with the last two titles being Mega Drive/Genesis ports of Wonder Boy in Monster World (1991) and (Wonder Boy) Monster World IV (1994).
This is not a bad little collection, but it does feel incomplete if you are a hardcore Wonder Boy fan. Considering there other titles in the main series left off this compilation, coupled with the remakes and Adventure Island ports, this could have been such a stellar collection worthy to be in everyone’s games library. Anyway, we digress!
If you are reading this, then you will know what types of games these are. Wonder Boy is an out and out platformer with jumping and collecting items on the way to rescuing his girlfriend – sound familiar? Yeah, it is in the Super Mario Bros. ilk, which isn’t a bad thing. The rest of the collection take this formula and sprinkle RPG elements to spice things up in each of the successive titles in the collection.
All games have the option to save/load states, modify the controls, rewind speeds and importantly, the video, which includes options to change the display, scaling and shaders – ensuring that you can retro it up to your heart’s content. The arcade ports have the additional options to change the number of lives, bonus lives and difficulty level, with Monster Land having the option to change how you use your special weapon. It would be remiss of us not to mention a blaring error on the Wonder Boy (1986) selection screen where there is reference to Tom-Tom’s girlfriend as Tanya instead of Tina. Hey, we know we are being very pedantic, but come on, this is elementary detail that should have been a no brainer.
All games are faithful to their original content, with the emulation accuracy being quite good on the Nintendo Switch. As it stands, for AU$39.99 (US$29.99), you get four pretty good Wonder Boy titles, but you can’t help it think how much more awesome it would have been if they added Monster Lair and Dragon’s Trap to this collection.
Disclaimer: The Nintendo Switch eShop code for the Wonder Boy Collection was provided by PR Hound.
Cowabunga! Sorry, we really had to start with that!
How good do we beat’em up fans have it right now? Both Final Vendetta and TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge get released within a day of one another. The last time we had it this good, I had a mullet and the singing budgie, Kylie Minogue, was killin’ it with her Stock Aitken Waterman hits. Oh yeah, and we are late doing this review because this game is deliciously addictive, just like a capricciosa pizza (minus the anchovies)!
You’ve probably read (or watched) a ton of reviews about this game already, so we honestly don’t know what else to say that hasn’t already been said – if you are into scrolling beat’em ups (playing solo or co-op), then adding TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge to your games library is a no-brainer, GET IT RIGHT NOW!
source: DotEmu
For those that need an extra push that are asking, how darn good is this game, well let us tell ya! We played Final Vendetta before Shredder’s Revenge and called it the beat’em up genre’s magnum opus (it’s darn good), but we honestly reckon Shredder’s Revenge is just as good (if not better!). The main pull for us is the fact that this game oozes nostalgia with its beautiful full-colour pixel visuals, aural (yay Tee Lopes!) and play mechanics by transporting us back to early 1990 in the video rental store where we first played the 4P Konami arcade game which totally blew our mind. Shredder’s Revenge has blown our mind too! Obviously it is a step above the original arcade with ample levels that are choc-full of foot clan baddies to smash with satisfying moves, attacks and brutal combos – there are 21 in total. Some moves do consume your Ninja Power bar, so you have to be strategic when to use it. Being TMNT, there is also a radical mode (basically god mode) that can be unlocked to mow down everyone on screen. Oh yeah, you can also taunt your enemies before you unleash your fist of fury. Did we also mention that you can play with up to six players simultaneously? No? Well, we have now – it’s just so gnarly! What else can we tell you about this game that no one has said already? It’s so bodacious!
We love the fact that you can play Shredder’s Revenge in Story or Arcade mode, with the latter basically giving the player a harder challenge with limited lives, continues and no saved progression – just the way we like it. Both Story and Arcade modes offer an easy (chill), hard (okay) and tough-as-nails (gnarly) difficulty levels, so it all depends on your mood and skill level.
If you need more convincing, then perhaps this game isn’t for you. If you are sitting on the fence, we say get off it and get playing TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge on your chosen system ASAP, you’ll thank us for it! Seriously though, if we had a rating system, we would give this all the stars in the observable universe. Bravo and thanks Tribute Games and DotEmu for giving us a superb game.
image source: DotEmu
Disclaimer: The Nintendo Switch review code for TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge was provided by DotEmu.