Australia's Retro Gaming and Pinball E-Zine
Now this is innovative, a handheld Nintendo system, completely made out of cardboard and paper!
Pfft, no need for a Game & Watch or a Game Boy/GBC/GBA or a DS. Oh yeah, no need for Paper Mario either 😉 Just check out those graphics!!!
This boy created the real “Paper Mario” pic.twitter.com/7cqhpkjDnI
— Wonderful Moment (@Xudong1966) January 27, 2024
One of the first games I bought for my Atari Lynx (back in the day, and which I still have!) was Chip’s Challenge. For the record, the first game I bought for the Lynx was California Games, but this review isn’t about that game!
Just like Tetris on the Game Boy, I love coming back to Chip’s Challenge on the Lynx, it’s just a great game that suits the Lynx to a tee. To now have this great game on the Switch, I honestly couldn’t stop smiling! Chip’s Challenge on the Switch is exactly how I remember it on the Lynx, but with better controls and a luscious screen (if played on the OLED Switch).
For those of you that have no idea who or what Chip’s Challenge is, let us school ya a bit! Schoolboy Chip desperately wants to join the exclusive Bit Busters Computer Club, but to prove his worthiness he must complete a series of brain-twisting challenges set by the club’s owner Melinda the Mental Marvel – darn you Melinda!
You have to help Chip solve over 140 challenging grid-based puzzles, finding and using tools and devices such as keys, switches, pushable blocks and more, all while avoiding enemy creatures, and collecting computer chips to exit the level, all against the clock! Sounds easy aye 😉
Chip’s Challenge on the Switch has brought back a lot of nostalgia. For those coming in fresh to this game, please don’t be put off by the “blocky” graphics – it’s just all part of the charm! The game shines with its mind-bending puzzles to solve. At the end of the day, for the price of the game (less than a take away coffee), Chip’s Challenge is well worth it on the Switch. It may look quite blocky when docked, but this game shines when playing it on the go!
Chip’s Challenge will be released worldwide on Nintendo Switch via the Nintendo eShop on January 25th 2024.
Disclaimer: Chip’s Challenge Switch review code supplied by Pixel Games UK
Experience the excitement of a real-life Pac-Man maze as you elude colorful ghosts and snatch up fruit! This March (2024), The District Docklands in Melbourne will host an incredible Pac-Man Escape Room Maze. This immersive pop-up event, officially endorsed by Pac-Man, will immerse you in an escape room adventure within a massive maze.
Prepare to outmaneuver ghosts, gather your favorite fruits (bonus points if you can devour all five), and tackle puzzles along the way. Each participant has only three lives, and if caught by one of the four ghosts, a life is lost. You can embark on this adventure solo or with a team of up to 10 people – the choice is yours. The first person to collect all the fruit and conquer the puzzles will earn the title of the ultimate Pac-Man Player!
Additionally, the venue will feature Pac-Man video games for you to enjoy once you’ve completed the maze. Melbourne’s up-and-coming DJs will be spinning ’80s tunes during the session and at the pixelated bar, providing the perfect opportunity to relax and grab a refreshing beverage after your thrilling adventure
Developed by Imagine Software and published by Pixel Games UK, this 1989 classic returns with over 140 levels to put your mind (and your fingers) to the test — available for the first time on Nintendo Switch via the Nintendo eShop.
In ‘Chip’s Challenge’, players take on the role of Chip — a puzzle obsessive who desperately wants to join Melinda the Mental Marvel’s computer club. His initiation takes the form of a series of increasingly difficult puzzles. To succeed Chip slide blocks, dodge hazards and collect the computer chips to pass each level. Are you up to the Challenge?
‘Chip’s Challenge’ for Nintendo Switch allows players to play this classic puzzle game with many modern features, including:
● Display filters, including an 80s-style CRT filter; and
● Suspend points – save and restore up to 4 suspend points per game
image source: Pixel Games UK
Our good friend from Tassie and absolute coding guru, Tony Cruise, has an awesome book for you retro gamers wanting to code your own 8-Bit NES video games! Oh yeah, Tony has also supplied a 35% off discount code for this amazing tome!
My new book “Classic Game Programming on the NES” has been finalised for print production.
Grab your copy today and start creating your own games for the #NES.https://t.co/UCKPkBd22C
Use the code: au35cru for 35% discount off any @ManningBooks product in all formats.#retro…— Tony Cruise (@ElectricAdv) January 4, 2024
Just in time for Chrissy 2023, Zafinn Books’ GameGuide – Atari Lynx arrives in the Ausretrogamer Fun Factory!
We weren’t expecting this book for another couple of weeks, so for it to turn up well ahead of schedule, and all the way from Ireland, was a welcome surprise.
If you aren’t familiar with Zafinn Books, it is a one man (Karl Morris), self-publishing house, with a great selection of limited edition books, just like this GameGuide for the Atari Lynx. The addition of some very cool stickers (sticking it up the Game Boy!) was another surprise and was totally unexpected.
Can’t wait to flick through this while enjoying the festive season.
Ah 8BitDo, they sure know how to tug on our nostalgic heartstrings!
8BitDo have hit the nostalgic sweet-spot for us retro gamers with their new 8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard, which modern gamers can also enjoy as it’s Bluetooth/2.4G/USB-C enabled, with 87 keys, dual super programmable buttons that can be used on Windows and/or Android devices!
Just look at the kitsch retro (Nintendo 8-bit) aesthetic of this beauty – we just can’t get enough of it! We really need one on our desk, so we are hoping Santa delivers this Christmas for us!
Who else is getting one?
Specs:
image source: Amazon AU
The legendary fighting franchise with over-the-top action, a wild cast of combatants, rocking reactive music, and C-C-C-COMBO BREAKERS is now free to play on Steam!!!
If you are an existing paid owner of the Killer Instinct (2012) game, you’ll be automatically upgraded to the Anniversary Edition (which is A$39.95).
Go on, what are you waiting for – go and break out some killer combos!!
image source: Steam
In case you weren’t aware of this fantastic film, GoldenEra is a celebration of a magical moment in video games history, when 3D games burst onto screens and into our imaginations. The film showcases GoldenEye 007, a game that would inspire a generation with innovative gameplay and a multiplayer mode that would change gaming forever. Who doesn’t remember their 4-player death-matches with mates on their Nintendo 64?! Ah, it was so much fun!
GoldenEra is a nostalgic celebration of one of the most important video games of all time. A game that broke all the rules and defined a generation of gamers. The story is told by academics, journalists, celebrities, fans and the game’s designers.
GoldenEra the feature length film, explores the passion, ambition and naive exuberance of the team from countryside England that produced countless hours of joy to millions of gamers around the world.
Featuring hours of content, including:
You can now pre-order the GoldenEra Limited Edition “Most Deadly” Blu-ray with N64 Slip Case film right here!
There is one way to make us play the original The Legend of Zelda, mash it up with one of our fave NES games, Super Mario Bros.!
Hacking games and mashing them up isn’t anything new, but when the hacked sum is greater than the individual games, we take note. Swedish ROMHacking user NESDraug has hacked together two of the greatest NES games, The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. to create an awesomely playable The Legend of Super Mario mashup game. Featuring Super Mario elements set in the original world of Hyrule might just make us experience a Zelda-like game on the NES – yes, we are one of those in the minority that never were into or wanted to play Zelda games.
If you want to experience The Legend of Super Mario, you can get the game patch from ROMHacking right here. Oh yeah, you will need a patching tool (like Lunar IPS) to patch the original rom file with the .ips patch file – that’s all we can tell ya without incriminating ourselves.
Go on, what are you waiting for?!
source: Hack Games Longplay Channel