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Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan – Nintendo Switch Review

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Grab your hat and whip, it’s time to venture into the jungle in Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan, out now from the team at COLLECTORVISION Entertainment.

In Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan players take control of an explorer that has stumbled into a Mayan temple just as the calendar has come to a finish and the unluckiest days begin. The feared deity Kukulkan has decided that he wishes to freeze time and only an outsider can foil his plans and fulfil the prophecy. To save the world and time as we know it, Sydney must reconstruct the Mayan calendar that has been divided into several segments and spread out to various god’s temples. Spanning over 11 different temples and facing 13 Mayan gods, players will have their work cut out for them in this epic quest.

Feeling very much like a love letter to the NES and its 8-Bit heritage, Sydney Hunter feels fantastic to control and responds exactly how players would expect an action adventure game to feel from that time period. Visuals are limited but always feel very rich and vibrant, lots of contrast means that there is rarely a boring screen and something fresh and interesting is always going on. Traversing each temple and discovering how each one works and its secrets, really feels like setting off on an adventure every time. Boss fights are simple, elegant and to the point, meaning that having to retry a failed battle never feels like a chore. Various items to find that will allow access to new areas as the game progresses, each one adding unique elements to the gameplay.

There is some fantastic humour sprinkled throughout that really adds to the charm and ensures that the game never takes itself too seriously. The soundtrack is also comprised of multiple beautiful chiptune tracks that really hit that nostalgic sweet spot and will easily get players humming along. Between the secrets scattered about in each temple and 2 different endings to see, there is plenty of reason to keep playing and discover everything Sydney Hunter has to offer.

Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan is a wonderfully charming and beautifully simple “Metroidvania” game that is sure to have players both old and new captivated. A must have title on whatever is your system of choice!

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Mat Panek, Chief Reporter
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: Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan [Nintendo Switch eShop code] was kindly provided by Novy PR for this review.

 

 

My Arcade: Micro Player Review – 6 Inch Collectable Retro Arcade Machines

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My Arcade’s motto, ‘Retro Gaming For A New Generation‘ is pretty much spot on when we think about their product range, like their Micro Player Mini Arcade Machines. We managed to get our hands on two of the My Arcade Micro Players, Bad Dudes (aka: DragonNinja) and Rolling Thunder, which we gave a good old fashioned thrashing.

Let’s first talk about the physical attributes of these cute little machines and their features. The packaging is so great that we decided to keep the units in them when not in use. The game’s story on the side of the packaging is clever too. Once you bust these open, you’ll find the Micro Player and a user manual (remember those!) inside. The Rolling Thunder Micro Player came with an added poster featuring the Micro Player machines range, which harks back to when we used to get posters with our games – a neat touch that we wish that the Bad Dudes unit also came with this inside.

The Micro Players themselves resemble their arcade counterparts, from their cabinet profile down to the artwork on the sides and control panel. Bad Dudes pips Rolling Thunder here with the bezel artwork and Data East logo on top of the unit. The detachable joystick on the D-Pad, the two fire buttons and the Reset and Start buttons are identical on all Micro Players, which ensures a consistent look, feel and play across the range. Speaking of the control panel, we found that we preferred to play Bad Dudes with the D-Pad (sans joystick), however, Rolling Thunder felt better to control with the joystick in place. The best part is that you have options for your control preference that suits your play style. A word of warning, if you like to play without the joystick, you better put it in a safe place, as they can easily get misplaced. The buttons are standard fare and feel responsive enough when playing either game, but they are on the small side, so if you have large or fat fingers, you may struggle a bit. Powering on the Micro Players is as easy as pushing in the coin slot door, which lights up when on – another cool feature which get our tick of approval. On the back of the machines you’ll find volume control buttons, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a battery compartment (for 4 x AA batteries) and a Micro-USB port for powering these little beasts.

For those that like their feature specifications in bullet-point form, here you go:

  • 6 inch arcade machine
  • 2.75″ full colour screen
  • Removable joystick
  • Volume control
  • 3.5mm headphone jack
  • Powered either by 4 x AA batteries or Micro-USB

The burning question on everyone’s lips is, how do they play? If you are expecting the arcade versions of the games, then you may be disappointed.  But before you start moaning and groaning, we can tell you that these are NES versions of their arcade counterpart, which isn’t a bad thing. Out of the two Micro Player’s, we definitely preferred playing Rolling Thunder, as the NES conversion was brilliant, translated perfectly on its corresponding Micro Player. As for Bad Dudes, since it is the NES version, you can’t play co-op, which is fine, as the Micro Player only has a single-player control deck. The emulation is true to their source, ensuring that the games play pretty much identical to the NES versions. We did note that Rolling Thunder boots up almost immediately to its title screen, whereas Bad Dudes took a few seconds. This isn’t a negative, it was just noticeable to us when turning on these machines side by side. The screen is bright (there is no brightness or contrast control), so you will have no issues seeing what is going on. Being on the small side, the screen does feel a tad cramped when there is lots action going on, especially on games like Bad Dudes.

So how do you decide which Micro Players to get, if any? Well, if you liked these games on the NES, then you will definitely love playing them on the Micro Players. Out of the two we got to play, we found ourselves going back to Rolling Thunder over and over again, not because we are crappy players (the game is tough as nails!), but the fact that the game is based on a wonderful conversion which was quite faithful to its arcade big brother. Let’s also not forget that these Micro Players are so darn cute and cool, they would be perfect for displaying in your games room or office.

With the Festive Season fast approaching, these would make a great gift for either yourself or that good friend of yours that is into retro gaming.

The My Arcade Micro Player Mini Arcade Machines range is available via Amazon (and reputable bricks and mortal stores, like JB Hi-Fi):

Disclosure: The Rolling Thunder and Bad Dudes My Arcade Micro Player machines were kindly provided by Turn Left Distribution for this review.

 

Still Drooling Over the Commodore HX-64

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Um, just in case you missed this or want to see it again and drool some more, check out Technical Designer extraordinaire Cem Tezcan’s Commodore HX-64 – a handheld version of the greatest 8-bit computer of all time!

The level of detail is in insanely cool, from the plastic, colour, keys, screen, ports to the ever so damn cool mini cassettes used to load programs! Forget the C65 or the SX-64, this is the ultimate Commodore 64 based dream machine. WOW!

source: Cem Tezcan via ArtStation

 

Hand Built Retro Game Visual Displays

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If there ever was a perfect use of the “Shut up and take my money” meme, then these hand built retro game visual displays by Leigh Allen (aka: PlayRetroDesigns) can take our wallet right now!

Who wouldn’t want Double Dragon, Galaga, Paper Boy and Gorf on their game room wall? And these are just the start! There are plenty more mind blowing displays based on your fave console and arcade games in Leigh’s Etsy store. Now, where was that bank withdrawal slip…

Image source: PlayRetroDesigns

 

Join the PAC: Celebrate PAC-MAN’s 40th Anniversary in 2020

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BANDAI NAMCO ENTERTAINMENT INC. GETS SET TO CELEBRATE PAC-MAN’S 40th ANNIVERSARY WITH A MYRIAD OF PARTNERSHIPS AND EVENTS!

The Year-Long Celebration Kicks Off in 2020 as the Famous 80’s Icon Celebrates 40 Years of Entertaining Millions of Fans Around the World

BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc. is inviting all PAC-MAN fans around the world to “Join the PAC” and start getting ready for a year-long celebration in 2020 to commemorate PAC-MAN’s 40th Anniversary as a pop culture and video game icon. To get a sneak peek at the activities, partnerships, and surprises to come, visit https://www.pacman.com/en-us/.

Born on May 22, 1980, PAC-MAN immediately rose to meteoric popularity, first in video game arcades, then on the pop culture stage with hit song “PAC-MAN Fever” and through an array of branding and entertainment appearances. With a brand recognition rate of 90% around the world, PAC-MAN’s image and brand is one of the most recognised on the planet and is as strong as ever as he enters his 40th year of entertaining fans of all ages.

PAC-MAN’s 40th Anniversary celebration in 2020 will include the debut of a new PAC-MAN 40th Anniversary theme song, composed by world-renowned Japanese Techno artist Ken Ishii. It will be accompanied by a music video directed by Yuichi Kodama, who has won awards at the Cannes International Advertising Festival, the Clio Awards, and the One Show Interactive. He was also the chief video director for the flag handover ceremony at the Rio Olympics Closing Ceremony. Multiple branding crossovers with Kipling®, Champion®, TIMEX®, and BAIT® will become available throughout the year. Fans will also be able to “Join the PAC” at celebratory events taking place throughout the year around the world.

To learn more and stay tuned with everything about PAC-MAN’S 40th Anniversary celebrations, bookmark this site now.


source: Bandai Namco Entertainment America

Book Review: The Art Of Point + Click Adventure Games and The CRPG Book

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Do you remember your first ever adventure video game? We sure do! We have very fond memories playing Transylvania on our school’s one and only Apple IIe computer. Back then we had to book the computer for use, as it had to be shared amongst all the primary school kids. Of course we preferred to play games on it during our allotted time instead of using Logo to learn some rudimentary programming – but that would have been boring. We immediately fell in love playing Transylvania as it allowed us to explore new worlds and create our own adventures, a lure that has kept us gaming ever since.

A lot has changed since the days of playing Transylvania, just like Moore’s Law ensuring technology would leap forward every two years, adventure, role playing and point + click games have done the same, as they have become more sophisticated over the ensuing years. What better way to capture the history of this genre than these two fine books.

The Art of Point-and-Click Adventure Games and The CRPG Book: A Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games by Bitmap Books capture the essence of these wonderful and enduring gaming genres. If you want to get a feel for these books without reading too many words, then skip ahead to the pics we have assembled below. On the other hand, if you want to know a tad more, read on.

Let’s start with The CRPG Book. Weighing in at 528 pages, this book has everything you can think of from the world of computer role-playing games from 1975 to 2015! We obviously went straight to the Ultima content, but that was one of only 400 titles covered in this beast of a book. The best part about this book is that it is completely written by fans, developers, indies, modders, journalists and industry personalities like Tim Cain, Chris Avellone, Scorpia, Ian Frazier and Richard Corbett to name just a few. Having these different perspectives gives the book a unique feel to the traditional interviews found in these types of publications (Ed: don’t get us wrong, we still love interviews in books!). The fact that there are mod hints, mod suggestions and tips on how to run these old classics games on modern hardware just adds that little bit extra to this already great tome. Of course, no book is complete without beautiful and vibrant imagery, and The CRPG Book has these in abundance.

Just like The CRPG Book, The Art of Point + Click Adventure Games book is stuffed full of content in its 460 pages, like the exclusive interviews with the makers of our fave point and click adventure games; Tim Shafer, Robyn Miller, Ron Gilbert, David Fox, Aric Wilmunder, Richard Hare, Hal Barwood, Gary Winnick, Charles Cecil and Paul Cuisset to whet your appetite. The book covers an array of iconic classic titles, from the very well known ones, King’s Quest, Myst, Toonstruck, Discworld, Blade Runner, Gabriel Knight, The Adventures of Willy Beamish, Simon the Sorcerer, The Secret of Monkey Island, Leisure Suit Larry, Maniac Mansion to the lesser-known games and homebrew efforts. Complimenting the writing is the extensive and engaging imagery used throughout, which means that this book will have you glued to each page.

We can cut right to the chase, both The Art of Point-and-Click Adventure Games and The CRPG Book: A Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games books come highly recommended. Being Bitmap Book publications, you know the quality of the content and presentation is guaranteed to be top notch. Both books are beautifully presented, with great page-turning content. Leaving these on our coffee table has sparked many great conversations with family and friends about old games they used to play. These hefty publications will definitely satisfy the most discerning gamers amongst you, even if you weren’t into point and click adventure games or RPGs! If you are in need of a great Christmas present (for yourself or a special friend), then these books would be perfect.

Both books are available at Pixel Crib right now:

The beautiful books!

The CRPG Book: A Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games

The Art of Point + Click Adventure Games

 

Disclosure: The Art of Point + Click Adventure Games and The CRPG Book – A Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games books were provided by Pixel Crib for this review.

 

Play 2500 Classic MS-DOS Games For Free

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No need to copy, swap dodgy disks or download questionable software, because you can now play an additional 2,500 classic MS-DOS based games for free!

Yep, you read that right folks. You can now play these classics without fear of doing anything illegal. All you have to do is head to the Internet Archive and browse their many, many classic games in their catalogue – we love you Internet Archive! Which MS-DOS game will you play first? For the record, we are starting with Street Rod and will then move onto Secret Of Monkey Island 😉

story source: Kotaku Australia

 

Wild Chicago visits Williams Electronics

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This is a cool video from the early 1990s which has the TV show, Wild Chicago visiting the Williams factory. The video shows the making of The Addams Family pinball machine, which also includes a brief chat with Roger Sharpe and Steve Kordek amongst other pinball peeps at Williams. Ed Boon also makes an appearance where they show the making of Mortal Kombat!


source: Arcade Hunters

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Pinball Press
Pinball Press is here to spread the word on everything pinball across the known universe. For business / PR email: [email protected]

Follow Pinball Press on Twitter and Facebook

 

 

 

Review: Sega Mega Drive Mini – Welcome to the Next Level!

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Casting our mind back to November 1990, we recall walking into our local family run Home and Entertainment Centre with our hard earned money (from pushing trolleys at our part-time job) to be faced with a dilemma of what new gaming console to buy for the new decade. This decision wasn’t taken lightly, as we had been 8 and 16-bit computer gamers till that point. We remember paying $399.99 for the Sega Mega Drive (Altered Beast pack-in) that day and another $100 for Golden Axe. Let’s just say that it was the best decision we ever made. We instantly fell in love with Sega’s 16-Bit console and that love affair is still as strong as ever.

Fast forward to the present day and the excitement of bringing home a mini version of Sega’s venerable console feels just the same as it did almost 29 years ago! Cracking open the box, we found a super cute shrunken Mega Drive Mini console, about 55% the size of the original Model 1 Mega Drive, two 3-button USB controllers, one HDMI cable and one USB to Micro-B power cable.

Being a genuine made Sega product, everything feels high quality. You can tell that Sega took a lot of care and poured their heart and souls into crafting this sleek and miniaturised Mega Drive. We love the attention to detail, like the cartridge flaps retracting, but obviously they are there for aesthetics, so you can put away your game carts. The headphone volume slider feels the same, albeit on a smaller scale, as do the reset button and on/off switch – it all feels very familiar, which is a good thing. The 3-button controllers are identical to the ones we had in 1990, except these are USB, not D-Pin connected. On that front, it would have been great if Sega had included 6-button controllers so that we could play games like Street Fighter II right out of the box. But don’t dwell on this, as you can use the Retro-Bit® 6-button controllers on this Mini.

Once the Mega Drive Mini was fired up, we were keen to start playing one of the 42 pre-loaded games (full list of games further down). The menu we were presented with was quite easy to navigate, with an awesome catchy tune created on the YM2612 sound chip by legendary composer Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage and Beyond Oasis). Knowing that the pre-loaded titles from both first-party and third-party development teams were all handled by the premier developer, M2 (SEGA AGES and SEGA 3D Classics Collection), a team renowned for high attention to detail and accuracy, we knew the games ported to the Mega Drive Mini were in good hands – the M2 team should be commended for their brilliant effort. Oh yeah, both Tetris and Darius make it in the overall games list, which means the Mega Drive Mini is the only console where you’ll be able to play these two newly published Mega Drive games – how cool is that?!

Just like in 1990, the first game we fired up was Golden Axe. The hit of nostalgia was purely intoxicating. Our muscle memory didn’t let us down, so playing the game was just as fun as it was back then. However, unlike back then, we could now save our game at any point to come back to it later – so no more pesky pausing for 24 hours and running a high power bill. The game playing experience felt authentic, even if playing on a modern television. Having said that, there are settings available to change the aspect ratio (4:3 or 16:9) and for those of you that want the same visual experience from three decades ago, there is a CRT filter, which adds scan lines and adjusts the colour of the display to emulate the look and feel of a CRT television (see photos of this further below) – it’s pure magic.

Lovingly crafted from the ground up, the sleek and miniature SEGA Mega Drive Mini is for all retro gamers, especially those that have fond memories playing the original 16-bit console back in the day. Sega have truly delivered a high-quality, plug-and-play, collectable version of their awesome console. As their famous slogan once said, and it still rings true now, “To be this good takes AGES, To be this good takes SEGA.”

If you want to see the Sega Mega Drive Mini in the flesh, we will have it available in our Classic Gaming area at PAX Aus 2019. The Sega Mega Drive Mini will be released on September 19 at a retail price of AU$139.95.

The Mega Drive Mini 42 pre-loaded titles:

1. Sonic the Hedgehog
2. Ecco the Dolphin
3. Castlevania: The New Generation
4. Space Harrier 2
5. Shining Force
6. Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
7. ToeJam & Earl
8. Comix Zone
9. Altered Beast
10. Gunstar Heroes
11. Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse
12. World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck
13. Thunder Force III
14. Super Fantasy Zone
15. Shinobi III
16. Streets of Rage 2
17. Earthworm Jim
18. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
19. Probotector
20. Landstalker
21. Mega Man®: The Wily Wars
22. Street Fighter II’®: Special Champion Edition
23. Ghouls ‘n Ghosts®
24. Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
25. The Story of Thor
26. Golden Axe
27. Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
28. Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball
29. Vectorman
30. Wonder Boy in Monster World
31. Tetris®
32. Darius
33. Road Rash II
34. Strider
35. Virtua Fighter 2
36. Alisia Dragoon
37. Kid Chameleon
38. Monster World IV
39. Eternal Champions
40. Columns
41. Dynamite Headdy
42. Light Crusader

Disclosure: The Sega Mega Drive Mini was kindly provided by Five Star Games for this review.

TAITO’S 80’s Cult Bubble Bobble Gets Sequel Exclusively for Nintendo Switch

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After more than 10 years, a sequel to the iconic video game classic will finally be released exclusively for Nintendo Switch via ININ Games and Strictly Limited Games!

After a long decade, Nintendo Switch players can now look forward to a sequel to the cult 80’s game series Bubble Bobble by TAITO. The new Bubble Bobble 4 Friends was developed by the original studio TAITO Corporation and will include a brand new local 4-player mode. The sequel will be released both digitally and physically exclusively for Nintendo Switch in Europe on November 19, 2019, with the release in the USA to follow in the first quarter of 2020.

As in the previous highly popular series, the thrilling and epic bubble fight starts again!

One night, a child’s room became enfolded by a miraculous light and every object under its rays suddenly came to life – including the child’s most favourite toy, the little dragon called Bub. Full of jealousy, the wicked magician Baron von Blubba challenges the friendly dragon to battle.

In the ’80s and ’90s, the players jumped through the levels either solo or in the two-player mode. In the new part of the popular Bubble Bobble series, a 4-player cooperative mode is integrated, providing even more fun with friends.

“Bubble Bobble is an extremely popular title in Europe, so we decided to implement a pre-sale in Europe in conjunction with ININ Games and Strictly Limited Games. It is also the first internally developed title since Taito has re-entered the consumer market, and the development team is thrilled to be working on this famous IP. I deeply hope that many people will enjoy it” says Hiroshi Uemura, Executive Officer, Division Manager of Development, TAITO CORPORATION.

Collectors can look forward to the Collector’s Edition of Bubble Bobble 4 Friends, distributed exclusively by Strictly Limited Games. The ININ publishing label markets the retail versions and digital releases on the Nintendo eShop.

We honestly can’t wait for Bubble Bobble 4 Friends! 🙂

News story and image source: Games Press