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NEO GEO Games Infographic

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There are some images that need to be shared for their informative awesomeness, and this NEO•GEO games infographic is one that definitely fits that bill.

Created and shared by Ange Albertini of the Corkami Reverse Engineering and Visual Documentation github repository, this image speaks to us loud and clear! We love the fact that in one image, we can see the timeline of all the games that were released for SNK’s mighty NEO GEO.

To get a sense of this amazing graphic creation, please click on the image below to see it in its native resolution!

 

The Players Guide to Programmable Videogame Systems from 1982

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Now this is a blast from the past! Well, a blast from 1982!

While trawling good ole eBay, our nostalgic interests were piqued when we found this 12-page ‘The Players Guide To Programmable Videogame Systems’ advertorial, which is cool to read in hindsight. We were glad to see the Bally Astrocade featured amongst the heavy hitters.

Check it out!

 

Turrican Flashback – Nintendo Switch

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We have fond memories of playing Manifred Trenz’s Turrican on our Commodore 64 and later, its sequel, Turrican II on the Amiga. What we remember most fondly were the awesome graphics and Chris Huelsbeck’s brilliant tunes on the Amiga, which elevated this run and gun game to extremely addictive levels. Oh yeah, the other thing we remember was the difficulty level – it was totally off the scale, even rage inducing at times, but that just enhanced its charm.

In the decades that have passed since we first fired up Turrican, it was great to hear that the series was going to make it to new gen consoles, thanks to ININ Games, ensuring new gamers experience what we did some 3 decades ago, rage and all!

So what do you get in this new Turrican Flashback for AU$45.00 on your Switch (and PS4)? Well, you get 4 classic titles from the series, including; Turrican, Turrican II, Mega Turrican and Super Turrican. These are great inclusions, as the four games are faithful to their originals, but we would have loved to have seen the rest of the games from the series make it into this compilation. Aside from this little niggle, what is in Turrican Flashback will keep you well satisfied and possibly frustrate you if you aren’t used to extremely punishing game difficulty.

Oh yeah, you also get Chris Huelsbeck’s iconic scores, painstakingly programmed to ensure the highest quality playback of the original audio across the various sound chips Chris perfected. So we cranked up the volume and enjoyed the 7 minute chiptune that is “The Final Fight” in Turrican II! All of the tracks across the four games are darn classics and will give you a great dose of aural nostalgia!

Moving right along, because if you have played any Turrican title, be it on the C64, Amiga, Mega Drive or SNES, you know what this game is all about and you know what you are getting. If you haven’t played any Turrican game, it is in essence a run and gun game (just like Contra), with a lot of precision jumping, shooting and exploring the terrain from left to right, and up and down. It may sound basic, but the devil is in the overall detail, from the games’ graphics, sounds, music, control, to its easy-to-pick-up and play, but difficult to master premise – you’ll be hard pressed to fault Turrican, unless you dislike the run and gun gaming genre.

For those itching to know what extra tweaks and features are included, well there are quite a few! If you love the curvature and scanlines of old school CRT TVs/monitors, then using the display, scaling and shader features, you can customise the display to the way you remember it looking from all those years ago.

Remember how we said these games are rage inducingly difficult? Well, there is also a “Rewind” feature, which allows the player to rewind part of the game to learn the pattern and overcome the challenge being faced by trial and error. And for those who wish to come back to the adventure at a later time, the save states are there to let you pick up exactly where you left off – a very welcome feature indeed.

The reworked controls are welcome, making the games accessible, even if you haven’t played any Turrican game. All four games felt familiar, but each one presented enough unique gameplay content to have you exploring them for a long long time.

If you love run and game games with gigantic levels to explore, heart-stopping action with a lot of non-stop mayhem and huge boss fights, then you seriously need Turrican Flashback in your life! It is great to have an iconic series like Turrican make it to new consoles for all to experience, from those players that are new to the series, and those of us that have nostalgic ties to it – Turrican Flashback is a great blast from the past!

image source: ININ Games

 

Disclosure: Turrican Flashback [Nintendo Switch eShop code] was kindly provided by PR Hound for this review.

 

The Boy Who Thought Outside the Box: The Story of Video Game Inventor Ralph Baer

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Are you like us, obsessed with the Atari 2600, Intellivision, NES, Sega Master System, 3DO, GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation 5 and everything in-between? Meet the inventor whose work made them all possible – Ralph Baer, creator of the first home video game system, the ‘Brown Box’ (which became the Magnavox Odyssey)!

The Boy Who Thought Outside The Box – The Story of Video Game Inventor Ralph Baer is an awesome picture-book biography of Ralph Baer, whose family fled Nazi Germany for the US. It introduces kids (Ed: and adults!) to a great inventor and the birth of the first home video games console. Using wartime technology, Baer thought outside the box and transformed the television set into a vehicle for gaming; Baer’s invention, the Odyssey, was the precursor to the Atari VCS. Today, interactive gaming systems like the Switch, Xbox and PlayStation are descendants of Ralph’s innovative ‘Brown Box,’ making this award-winning inventor the true ‘Father of Video Games.’

The hardcover book is available via Amazon for AUD$18.99.

Ralph Baer book

 

Monsters of Terror: The Best Wizard of Wor Clone on the Amiga!

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Everyone knows by now that we love all things Star Wars, Double Dragon, Galaga and pinball, amongst many others. However, not many know that we have another love called Wizard of Wor!

We keep going back to playing Wizard of Wor on the Commodore 64, because it’s just so jolly fun and a cracking arcade conversion. Since there was never an official Wizard of Wor game released on the Amiga, lots of peeps missed out on playing a great game (Ed: unless they kept their C64 to play it on)! But don’t fret too much, as there is a top notch clone of Wizard of Wor for the Amiga, called Monsters of Terror, created by the super talented Matthias Bock (aka: flurrycow/lazycow).

Do yourself a favour, grab this game now, as it’s darn awesome!


source: WTF Game Tracks



Once Upon Atari: How I Made History By Killing An Industry

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Our friend and Atari developer extraordinaire, Howard Scott Warshaw, you know, he made Yars’ Revenge and E.T. amongst other notable Atari 2600 games, has released his new book, Once Upon Atari: How I Made History By Killing An Industry, which is available right now on Kindle and Paperback.

Upon the release of his new book, Howard stated that, “I needed to put something fun and interesting into the world. Is it “The feel good book of 2020″? Nah, that’s too low a bar. This book was a labour of love, but a labour nonetheless. If you know me, you know this is a fun read. If you don’t know me, it’s still fun. I’m happy with the result and I hope you enjoy reading it”.

This book provides an intimate view into the dramatic rise and fall of the early video game industry in the US, and how it shaped the life of one of its key players. Howard’s book offers eye-opening details and insights from someone that was there during Atari’s heyday.

What are you waiting for, go and grab it!

 

The Worst DOOM Copycat

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By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.

There were a lot of “Doom” copycats after the game’s enormous success; “Bloodwings: Pumpkinhead’s Revenge” is probably the most unusual rip-off. There are moments while playing it where I’m not sure what my objective is or if there even is an objective.

Clips from the “Pumpkinhead” sequel are spliced into the game. The movie is bad, so the clips are jarring and clunky. The movie might be slightly better than the game, but neither are worth a second glance in a bargain bin at a store. The game doesn’t seem to have any purpose than to collect “Tantanik Crystals” that allow you to play the movie and then the player can grab items from the clips. Sound exciting? It’s not. The first-person view is like seeing through the Predator’s eyes, the visuals are so murky and dark red.

Doom Clonesource: old-games.com

The game is as twisted as the terrible film. “Bloodwings” doesn’t make a lot of sense and it’s hard to follow, like so many cheap horror films. I enjoyed the first “Pumpkinhead” film, which was released in 1988. The first film, starring Lance Henriksen, is predictable at times and the plot is rather basic. Stan Winston directed “Pumpkinhead”; I always thought the evil creature in Winston’s film looked like the “Alien” franchise Xenomorph. Winston did win an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for James Cameron’s masterpiece “Aliens” two years before he directed “Pumpkinhead.”

The “Pumpkinhead” film is corny, but it’s a fun, watchable corny. Henriksen slightly overacts when he is connected to the killer beast, but he makes it as believable as possible. Henriksen is one of those actors that you believe in every role. He brings a dramatic weight to “Pumpkinhead.” He’s a big reason why I liked Winston’s movie. The film has a great first act that pulls you in. There is nothing about the sequel or the “Bloodwings” game that is engaging.

 

Castlevania: The Complete History

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We are huge fans of Daniel Ibbertson’s (aka: Slope’s Game Room) history vids, just like his recent full-length documentary based on the history of one of the biggest game franchises of all time, CASTLEVANIA.

The Castlevania games series is one of the most expensive and well-loved retro gaming collections ever released. In this doco, Daniel not only talks about its history, but also showcases some of the rarest games in the series.

So chuck your headphones on, put your feet up and immerse yourself all things Castlevania.


source: Slope’s Game Room

The Mystery of the Lego Game Boy Advance SP

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image source: Sleepy Ursaring

When our Twitter friend, Brad, informed us of a mysterious find in our hometown of Melbourne, we thought we’d let you all know!

The mysterious find by YouTuber, Sleepy Ursaring, is a huge 10 kilogram Lego Game Boy Advance SP replica that looks absolutely awesome with a level of detail that is simply amazing. Could it be a retail store display or was it made for a Lego Ideas project? Who knows? All we know is that the inscription on the back of the replica states that it was ‘Made in Windsor’ by ‘KT+IW ’04’.

We wish we had the answer, but we don’t! We had a chat with Sleep Ursaring on Twitter, and were advised that this find was part of a retro gaming haul, with all contents at the property up for the taking – now that is darn awesome! If anyone knows more about this Lego Game Boy Advance SP creation, please hit us up via Twitter or Facebook (or email, if you are that way inclined).


source: Sleep Ursaring

Things Are Afoot At The Ausretrogamer Fun Factory in 2021

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With having a lot of time at home in 2020, we had been thinking about changing things up in the Ausretrogamer Fun Factory!

Things are afoot with designing the new space, which will see new additions, things being moved around and unfortunately, stuff that will go to a new home. We are quite excited with the next chapter of our games room, so we’ll be sure to share our journey throughout 2021 of the new and improved Ausretrogamer Fun Factory.

For now, you can have a read how the Ausretrogamer Fun Factory has evolved over the years.

Taking one last look at the current Ausretrogamer Fun Factory (click to enlarge)