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Battlezone: One of Atari’s Best

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By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.

Several years ago, my brother bought an Atari Flashback 64 console, and I became obsessed with playing the 1983 tank video game Battlezone. As crude as the first-person shooter graphics may be, the game feels like a real tank simulator (minus the volcanoes and UFOs).

I’ve always loved tank games. Usually, the more realistic ones are the most entertaining, but Battlezone’s simplicity is what makes it so fun and interesting. I didn’t know until I did some research that Battlezone is often considered the first virtual reality arcade video game. The home version doesn’t feel like virtual reality, but I can definitely see how the original 1980 arcade version can be seen as a “3-D success”. Looking through the “periscope” viewfinder, which the player used to play the game, had to be exciting and different. The originality of it had to help the player immerse themselves in the classic game. I’ve never had the pleasure of playing Battlezone in an upright arcade cabinet; I hope one day I will.

There is also a smaller version of the cabinet where the screen was angled upwards, and there was no periscope. I think I remember seeing that version of Battlezone at a local supermarket when I was little.

When I play Battlezone, I have a battle manoeuvre where I circle around and pick off enemy tanks and flying saucers, then I pick up speed in one direction for a while until something pops up on my radar. I wish the game had a better radar, but the primitiveness of it adds to the retro feel. You must be fast on the joystick’s trigger when opposing tanks just pop up on screen in front of you. Playing the ’83 game is still a challenging and thrilling experience.

Atari 2600 version of Battlezone. Source: Retro Gamer

 

Our Favourite Nintendo Game That We Still Play Today

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Asking a gamer to nominate their favourite Nintendo game is like asking a parent to pick their favourite child. Well, guess what, we are going to do the unthinkable!

But before we crown our favourite, let us tell you about the top 3 contenders (that we still love playing till this day!):

First contender, Wave Race 64 (N64) – yes, we did pick Wave Race 64 above Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64 and Goldeneye 007. Don’t get us wrong, the aforementioned games are superb, but nostalgia draws us to Wave Race 64. What wasn’t there to like – realistic water physics, challenging courses and an absolutely cracking 2 player challenge – ‘Bonsai!’. We lost a lot of hours playing this game head to head. Oh yeah, the N64 controller was perfect for this game.

The second contender is none other than Super Mario Bros. (SMB) on the NES. This 2D platformer catapulted the Mario franchise into the stratosphere for good reason. The game had great level design, matched by awesome gameplay, a mesmerising Koji Kondo tune and most importantly, intuitive control – what more could you want!

Well, if it wasn’t for the next game, I guess the choice would have been easy and SMB would have walked away with the prize. Let us tell you about a 16-bit platformer that took the SMB ingredients, gave them a fair shake and then poured the contents into the SNES for a game we call (drum roll please), Super Mario World (SMW)! With SMW, the 2D platformer reached its pinnacle – sublime level design, 16-bit aesthetics that were an absolute feast for your eyes and the sound was perfectly atmospheric. This was a game that you could lose yourself in. SMW is one of those games you can either pick up and play for half an hour to get your Mario fix, or play till the wee hours of the morning. SMW walks away with the prize of our favourite Nintendo game of all time. Thank you Mr. Miyamoto for creating the definitive 2D platformer.

Phew, that was hard!

 

The secret(s) of Monkey Island will be revealed on October 30 when Video Game Source Project deconstructs a beloved classic

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The Video Game History Foundation (VGHF), a nonprofit that brings old video games back to life by preserving, celebrating, and teaching their history, has recently unveiled the Video Game Source Project, an effort to save and study source code and related development materials before the stories around these games’ creation are lost forever.

“For a video game historian, an archaeological dig through source material is the next best thing to time travel,” said Frank Cifaldi, founder and co-director of the VGHF. “Unfortunately for us, most of that material — especially from our earliest days — has been lost forever. The Video Game Source Project will help us surface more of this material and normalize its use as an educational tool.”

To jump-start this initiative, the VGHF is putting out a call to developers, publishers, and anyone else in possession of source code, documentation, concept art, demo builds, or other materials that can help tell a game’s origin story. Donated materials will be maintained in the VGHF’s Northern California archives and made available to video game historians.

The first games to benefit from the Video Game Source Project will be Lucasfilm Games’ legendary point-and-click adventure The Secret of Monkey Island, which celebrates its 30 year anniversary this month, and its sequel Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge.

The VGHF’s staff and volunteers have spent the past several months studying the Monkey Island games’ source code, uncovering unshipped secrets, and even reconstructing cut rooms and cinematics. Much of this content will be shown for the first time on October 30 when Ron Gilbert, the creator of Monkey Island and of the SCUMM game engine, joins Cifaldi for a livestreamed “fireside chat” and Q&A. Tickets for “The Secrets of Monkey Island” are available for $10 with sales benefitting the VGHF.

“Monkey Island is a special game to me and the creation of the SCUMM system is a large part of that. Looking at the source always jogs my memory and now gives me a chance to answer questions people didn’t even know to ask,” says Ron Gilbert. “As a developer, I see real value in preserving and learning from the work that we never imagined people in the future would care about. I’m glad the Video Game History Foundation is making this a priority while there’s still time to salvage history that’s becoming scarcer by the day.”

Beyond Monkey Island, members of the VGHF are currently studying source material from a beloved 16-bit RPG, abandoned Sega hardware from the 1990s, and a never-before-seen follow-up to a legendary arcade game. Historical analysis and content related to these games and others will be unveiled in the coming months. The VGHF has also established an advisory committee of developers, publishers, academics, and historians to tackle the problems related to source conservation and to encourage industry participation.

To learn more about the Video Game Source Project and sign up to receive email updates, visit the Video Game History Foundation website.

image source: VGHF

Umihara Kawase BaZooKa – Review

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We absolutely loved Umihara Kawase back in the day on the Super Famicom (SNES). As much as we loved Super Mario World, Umihara Kawase seemed to be a breath of fresh air when it came to platform gaming, as it was something new and quite challenging. Fast Forward 25+ years, and the Umihara Kawase series has its latest entrant, Umihara Kawase BaZooKa!

If you like your platfom gaming action to be fast-paced, then look no further than Umihara Kawase BaZooKa! This single screen platform gem requires the player to clear the screen of enemies by performing combos with the bazooka and the awesomely helpful fishing rod. Each level has a coin target to collect, so once the player collects the number of coins required, they move on to another elaborate and challenging stage. It may seem simple and straight forward, but the devil is always in the playability.

Umihara Kawase BaZooKa! has a lot to offer to ensure its longevity, from a choice of 22 iconic characters that have special moves, to its Challenge Mode that comes packed with 40 stages. With each stage having its unique characteristics to overcome, like moving platforms, obstacles and quirky enemies, you’ll constantly be kept on your toes till the stage is cleared. There is a lot of enjoyment in this fast-paced battle action game, but where it’s most enjoyable is when you get a party of 4 playing in epic multiplayer versus battles, either online or offline! Oh yeah, for those that like chasing high scores and seeing their names on leaderboards, your wish is fulfilled too.

The graphics and sound package is slick and cutesy, which compliments the game play and fits just right in the Umihara Kawase series universe. The controls are straight forward and intuitive, but just in case you get stuck, there is a ‘how to play’ option which will have you blowing up, hooking enemies and collecting coins in no time.

The Umihara Kawase games series has come a long way since 1994, but the things that have not changed are that they remain refreshing, quite fun and very enjoyable to play, be it in single player mode or with friends. We can safely say that Umihara Kawase BaZooKa! has an abundance of fun injected and shines head and shoulders when playing with others, but it still remains fun when playing solo. The refreshing, fun and enjoyable gaming formula has not been compromised in this game, we love it! Now, time to grab our BaZooKa and fishing rod and get back to battle…

 

SNK Announces New FREE Twitch Prime Games

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We also welcome good news, especially news of free video games!

The peeps at SNK have teamed up with Twitch Prime to bring Prime members a number of popular SNK titles completely free! The first wave of games began with seven titles which became available from May 2020, and now the second wave begins with an additional seven, like METAL SLUG 2 and SNK 40th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION. More games will be released in the future, so stay tuned!

If you have an Amazon Prime membership, then do yourself a favour and grab these free SNK titles now from Twitch Prime!

Important things to know:
* You must be an Amazon Prime member in order to download these games
* The available games are their western versions
* Offer available till April 1, 2021 (but don’t wait till then, grab them now!)

image source: SNK Corp.

 

Same Same But Different Name

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Why, oh why do publishers change names of games for different regions of the world?

That is the million dollar question. They will give you all sorts of reasons and excuses, but it all boils down to the marketing teams and what they think will work in their segment.

We think these games would have an identity crisis if they were human. Actually, some games are known by more than two different names ! C’mon, that is absurd, no matter where you are from.

Here is a list of well known classic video games that are known by various names around the world. You be the judge of which region names you prefer. If you know of others that aren’t on the list, hit us up on Twitter or Facebook:

Game Name Also Known As (AKA)
Bare Knuckle Streets of Rage
Life Force  Salamander
Contra Gryzor, Probotector
Bad Dudes  DragonNinja, Bad Dudes vs DragonNinja
PC Kid Bonk
Jet Set Radio  Jet Grind Radio
Devil Crash Devil’s Crush, Dragon’s Fury, Devil Crash MD
Another World  Out of this World, Other World
Ninja Gaiden Shadow Warriors
Two Crude Dudes Crude Buster
Buggy Boy Speed Buggy
Green Beret  Rush’n Attack
International Karate  World Karate Championship
Stunt Car Racer Stunt Track Racer
Winter Olympiad 88  Winter Challenge
Slap Fight Alcon
International Karate +  Chop ‘n Drop Karate
Microprose Soccer  Keith van Eron’s Pro Soccer
Driller  Space Station Oblivion
The Sentinel  The Sentry
Nebulus  Tower Toppler
Pipemania  Pipe Dream
Rock ‘n Wrestle  Bop ‘n Wrestle

 

 

Getting To Grips with Sega Pocket Arcade

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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:

  • Amazing Sonic
  • Sega Sports Baseball
  • Bug!
  • Ecco the Dolphin
  • Eternal Champions: Special Moves Edition
  • Sega Sports Football
  • Sonic Blast
  • Columns

Blue cover series:

  • Bug!
  • Ecco the Dolphin
  • Indy 500 / Sega Raceway
  • Panzer Dragoon
  • Sonic 3D Blast
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 3
  • Streets of Rage
  • Super Monaco GP
  • Virtua Cop
  • Virtua Fighter


source: ClassicAds

 

Mortal Kombat VS. Street Fighter

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The ultimate 2D Fighting game showdown: Mortal Kombat VS. Street Fighter!

This is it peeps, choose your side, either Capcom’s venerable Street Fighter or the gore-fest from Midway Games (now Warner Bros.), Mortal Kombat. Chun Li versus Kitana, Ryu taking on Raiden, Blanka versus Jax – which franchise will deliver the final fatality? Finish him!


source: Untitled Animation via Facebook

 

A Case for EA Sports Koepka PGA Tour

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By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.

EA Sports should bring back their PGA Tour game series for all gaming platforms. But this time, don’t have Tiger Woods or Rory Mcllroy endorse the game, give the honor to Brooks Koepka, the current ranked. golfer in the world.

I’ve played every version of EA Sports PGA Tour since 2003. Koepka could bring a jolt to the game’s popularity and significance. There hasn’t been a new version of the series since 2015.

Brooks Koepka is a quiet athlete. That seems rare in the age of Twitter and TMZ Sports. Koepka is on social media, but he rarely posts anything, and when he does, it’s usually about a tournament he’s participating in or Nike, one of his sponsors. He’ll occasionally post a picture on Instagram hanging out with his girlfriend, Jena Sims, and friends somewhere where there is water.

Koepka is a methodical assassin on the golf course in the final rounds of PGA Tour majors. If he is leading or if he’s a few strokes off the leader, he is unemotional and poised to a point that he has the rigorous strut of Arnold Schwarzenegger in “The Terminator.” Do you know the greatest reason for animal survival in the wild? It’s not size; it’s not speed; it’s not strength. It’s adaptability. That’s what Koepka does at the end of a major, he adapts; and that usually leads to a victory.

image source: EA Sports

During his interview with David Feherty on the Golf Channel’s “Faherty,” there were moments when he looked like he wanted to bolt from his chair, he seemed so uncomfortable. He came off as a man who didn’t like talking about himself. But Feherty, being an exceptional interviewer, knew when to insert humor and pull back.

Koepka is sort of the reluctant face of the PGA Tour at the moment. No other player has won 4 major championships in 3 years. Of course, Tiger Woods is still one of the most popular athletes in the world; especially after his storybook win at Augusta in April. But this year, Koepka and Woods are even at one major apiece.

Koepka, at 29, has another two decades of winning majors if he stays healthy and hungry. He could easily be the most popular golfer on the PGA Tour for the next ten years. EA Sports should consider the influence Koepka may have on the game, and, for them, perhaps gaming.

 

The Difficulty of Jeopardy! Makes It Fun

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By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.

Playing Jeopardy! on the Playstation 2 is like writing poetry; it’s challenging and difficult, but that’s what makes it so enjoyable. Also, like writing poetry, you never know if you’re actually any good at it. I’m exceptional at Jeopardy! when it comes to categories like history, science and movies; I’m not bad at sports as a category either. But playing the Playstation 2 game gives me no indication of how I would actually perform on the television show.

I’ve never seen the same categories or answers come up twice after years of playing the 2003 game. On the case, it says “Over 5,200 answers!” I believe it.

1 to 3 players can play the game. I enjoy playing solo against two other contestants. There’s a lot of pressure to spell out the right question with your controller. You watch the countdown nervously as you’re trying to spell out the correct question. I’ve always been pretty good at clicking in first to answer. If I was on the actual hit show, I have no idea how fast I’d be able to use my clicker. That’s an important factor in being able to perform well over the course of the game.

image source: psxplanet

The game has sample contestant exams, but I’ve never tried to take one. Maybe I’m a little intimidated? And a game is supposed to be fun; the thought of taking an exam when you put the disk in the system doesn’t sound like fun. Playing the game against two simulated players is in a way an exam. It’s certainly a challenge that can become addictive.

At times, I’ve played Jeopardy! for hours. You can play a complete game in about 30 to 40 minutes; it depends on how long it takes you and your opponents to give the correct question. And just like the show, a player can take over the categories if an opponent’s answer is incorrect.

Selecting a Daily Double is a bit nerve-racking. If my score is over $10,000, I get conservative and bet very little. If my score is under that amount, I go for it and bet as much as I think I can get away with. There is nothing worse than missing Final Jeopardy! because you’re busted.

First-person shooter games and sports games can sometimes feel repetitive and tedious. Jeopardy! never gets boring and it keeps you guessing. The game is a challenge that never disappoints, and you can learn something.