AUSRETROGAMER

The Pop-Culture E-Zine

You are here: Home / Archives for retrogaming

retrogaming

Rebooting The Atari Jaguar

By

It is wonderful receiving gifts, but it is even more so when they are awesome cartridge-based Atari Jaguar video games!

The very generous Lawrence Staveley (aka: CJ Reboot) of Reboot Games sent us two cartridge games, Cyrano Jones’ Downfall Plus and Bubble Bobble Arcade to make our Jaguar purr. To top of these amazing carts, they both light up when the Jag is powered on!

The Atari Jaguar development and homebrew scene keeps thriving, and it is because of dedicated folks like Reboot that ensure we have fresh content to play on the 26 year old 64-bit cat. Long may it continue!

Oh yeah, both games are great, making them very hard to put down. Speaking of which, we reckon it is time we get out of here and sneak in a few more games 😉

Thanks again to CJ Reboot for these generous Atari Jaguar gaming gifts – we were, and still are totally blown away!

 

The Official Space Invaders Board Game

By

We have said this a few times now, we are very very choosy what we back (and promote) on Kickstarter– so take note!

Space Invaders is one of those iconic video games that transcends generations. It is the game that keeps on giving. Having celebrated it’s 40th anniversary last year, this time around we are set to get an official Space Invaders Board Game!


source: 612 Games

We are so pumped for this Kickstarter and can’t wait to defend against the invaders on a physical board! For more info, head to the Space Invaders Board Game Kickstarter page to check out what you can get with your pledge. The campaign has already blown way past its target goal, so this is happening! Pew pew pew!

image source: Space Invaders Board Game via Kickstarter

[source story: technabob]

 

Byte Driver – Review

By

Get radical and blast down the endless highway in Byte Driver, the latest game from Vector Hat.

Feeling like a long lost arcade cabinet from the early 80’s, Byte Driver is an interesting mix of games like Outrun, Night Driver and Spyhunter. As you make your way through the courses energy slowly depletes, hitting an object or obstacle will drain a larger percentage and hitting zero means game over. As you drive along you can hack opponents stealing energy or earning upgrades like improved vehicle stats, weapons or other consumables for your vehicle. Progressing through levels means harder enemies with more defensive and offensive skills will be there to oppose you in your pursuit of high scores.

Byte Driver definitely has some cool retro styling, looking like an old vector drawn game with screen shake and glitches being thrown in for good measure. There is also a monochrome mode for those that really want to embrace that real vector drawn feeling. The soundtrack is  fantastic and suits the style perfectly, filling sound and vision with pure 80s aesthetic that really gets you into the feel of the game. Being high score driven means that at low level play, Byte Driver is perfect for hot seat score comps with friends while high level play can be fought for with online leaderboards.

Byte Driver succeeds in evoking retro game feel and charm but, much like it’s early arcade peers, there isn’t much else to the game beyond 5 difficulty levels and high scores. Challenge does ramp up nicely as you progress and it can get real tough towards the end but with practice it’s easy to shoot for those high scores. The addition of a “low Stress” mode is nice for people to come to terms with the mechanics and allows you to play without the energy meter falling to zero for some more casual play.

There is a lot of fun to be had here and fans of classic arcade games will likely enjoy what Byte Driver has to offer, a well made and fantastic looking indie title.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mat Panek
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: Byte Driver was kindly provided by Vector Hat for this review.

 

 

Lego Sega Classic Arcade Machines – Vote Now

By

LegoSegaArcade_TITLEWhen you stumble upon an awesome idea you must let everyone know about it. My good friend Raj informed me of a Lego Ideas campaign created by SpacySmoke which proposes the creation of classic Lego Sega arcade machines.

The idea campaign is still gathering support, so if you would like Lego to take note, then please throw your support behind this great idea by voting now – who wouldn’t like a Thunder Blade or Yu Suzuki classics like Space Harrier and Out Run replica Lego machines in their home? I have cast my vote, so should you!

LegoSegaArcade_SpaceHarrier

LegoSegaArcade_OutRun

LegoSegaArcade_ThunderBlade

LegoSegaArcade_figuressource: SpacySmoke on Lego Ideas

Tiny Retro Gaming Pocket Sprite Device Fits in Your Hand

By

Oh wow, this (Pocket Sprite) is so damn cute that we just had to share it with you all!

WE WANT ONE!!!

 

Playing Tetris on a Flip-Dot Display

By

Tetris has always been a killer title for millions of gamers around the world. If you had a Game Boy, then we bet that you have played Tetris. Now, imagine playing Tetris on a mechanical display instead of digital. That’s hard to imagine, right?

Well, looks like Sinowin does imagine such things! Sinowin took a small computer, added a joystick and connected these to an old-school elongated flip-dot display, you know, like the ones that show the departure and arrival times at airports. No matter the platform, Tetris still remains a killer game, even on a flip-dot display. This is so damn cool!


source: sinowin

[story source: technabob.com]

 

Super Mario Bros. 64 Has Been Unleashed On The C64

By

Wahoo, after 7 years in development, Super Mario Bros. is finally released on our beloved Commodore 64! A huge thank you to ZeroPaige for the hard work in coding this masterpiece.

For those few that don’t know, this creation is a Commodore 64 port of the 1985 game Super Mario Bros. which was originally released for Famicom and the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). This brilliant port contains the original version that was released in Japan and United States, as well as the European version – how awesome is that! It also detects and supports a handful of turbo functionalities, and has 2 SID support. We can finally experience Super Mario Bros. in fully glory on our C64s!

The download links can be found on the Lemon64 forum. The disk-image contains 2 programs:

  • SUPER M. BROS.64 – the game (everything in one file); and
  • SMB.64 DOCS – the game manual.

A cartridge-file is also provided, containing the game which can also be used on the C64GS!

For more details on this game and all its features go here.

NOTE: If the Super Mario Bros. 64 file(s) have been taken down, then that is the work of Nintendo’s DMCA notice to file sharing sites 🙁

 

Evercade – It’s Coming!

By

A new console has been announced and it looks very intriguing!

The Evercade is a brand new handheld console with unique multi-game retro cartridges from leading games publishers and console platforms. The first publisher to jump onboard, Atari, will be bringing 20 of their classic game carts from their 2600 and 7800 back catalogue. We are are eagerly awaiting news on future publishers.

Little is known at this stage about the Evercade, but the few bits and pieces of information has definitely piqued our interest, like:

  • An ever expanding library of games
  • Officially licensed content
  • No internet connection required
  • Collectable elements (unleash the trophy hunter inside of you!)
  • Save game progress; and
  • Connect to your TV via HDMI (sounds good to us)

The Evercade is one retro playing console we will keep an eye on and let you know more details as they come to hand.

 

Raised By Rainbows: Adorable Pop Culture Art

By

Oh man, wish we had seen Luke Flowers’ brilliant Raised by Rainbows exhibit earlier!

Luke’s exhibit at Gallery 1988 has a number of cool arcade games and other popular toys related art which is very unique and absolutely adorable.

Most art pieces are sold out (Ed: darn it!), but there are a few that you can still get your hands on (Ed: looking at you ‘Mario Mayhem’)!

You got to admit, these are quite cool. Picking a favourite seems impossible!

For more details of available art to be purchased, please check out the entire Raised by Rainbows exhibit at Gallery 1988.

image source: Raised by Rainbows exhibit via Gallery 1988

 

Sega Mega Drive Mini: To be this good takes AGES, To be this good takes SEGA

By

Just in case you have been in a cave without any outside contact, get your diary out now and mark September 19, 2019 as the date that the beautiful Sega Mega Drive Mini will be released in the wild to go toe-to-toe with its old foe, the SNES Classic Mini! Oh yeah, this ain’t no Flashback system!

We were amazed to find the following letter, with love, from SEGA:

My Old Friend,

I know it’s been a while. Time moves forward, yet not a day goes by that you’re not on my mind. I, the popular, star-console, you, the shy, unassuming kid, but we found common ground when we played Ecco the Dolphin together. You were so fast, racing through the Green Hill Zone with my pal, Sonic!

You sure knew how to play. The way that CRT hue hit your glazed over face as you spent another hour playing Castlevania: Bloodlines…We both knew things would change and that we’d move on to other great things, but lately, I’ve been thinking about spending time together once more. We didn’t do what we were told, but we made a good team.

I look a bit different now. I’m much smaller. I’m packing 40 games inside my sleek, molded shell, and more blast processing power than ever before.

We lived fast and dangerously, together, playing the games some of the adults weren’t too keen on (but you had the cool parents). We had the games your friends wanted to play, a whole stack of them. Shining Force, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, and Earthworm Jim, to name a few.

Sure. there were other distractions (remember pogs?). I was never jealous though because we still had Altered Beast and Gunstar Heroes.

I will try to write more regularly. I hear there is this friendly meeting space called “social media” now where I can share more.

I hope to hear from you soon.

With love,

SEGA Mega Drive Mini @-}–

Wow. We’ve never seen the SEGA Mega Drive Mini express itself like that before. If you’d like to write back, here is some information you may find useful when crafting your reply 😉

When: September 19, 2019

What: Miniature Sega Mega Drive console which will be plug-and-play ready with 40 classic games built-in! Oh yeah, the controllers will have 3 fire-buttons, not 6 (Ed: Oh well, it’s better than nothing)

Price: AU$139.00 / US$79.99 (Pre-orders via JB Hi-Fi or Play-Asia)

Announced titles (and more to come!):

  • Sonic the Hedgehog​
  • Ecco the Dolphin
  • Castlevania: Bloodlines
  • Space Harrier 2
  • Shining Force
  • Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
  • Earthworm Jim
  • Comix Zone
  • Altered Beast
  • Gunstar Heroes

So there you have it. Are you excited? Of course you are! Let us know on Twitter or Facebook which other titles you would like to see make the list of 40 legendary games.

Now, there are no limits with the Sega Mega Drive Mini!

image source: Sega Mega Drive Mini