MegaDrive Platform Games #2

James Pond: Underwater Agent (1991)
By: Millennium Interactive / Electronic Arts  Genre: Platform (kind of)  Players: 1  Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Sega MegaDrive / Genesis  First Day Score: 1,118,740
Also Available For: Amiga, Atari ST, Acorn Archimedes

During the game mascot boom of the early 90's there was a big influx of potential new heroes for consideration by the gaming public. Spurred on by the huge success of Sonic, there were lots of mostly rather implausible anthropomorphic creatures thrust into the spotlight and we ended up with a veritable Noah's Ark of candidates including a squirrel, elephant, possum, bat, ant, mouse, duck, bobcat, dog, bee and lord knows what else, but there's one who beat them all to the punch. And he was... a fish? Many of these odd platform hero wannabes would realistically found it difficult to clamber around the environments typical of a platform game but a fish doesn't even have limbs, nevermind the inconvenience of air in place of their more natural environment! The obvious answer would be to set the stages underwater, but would it even still be a platform game then?

The simple and easy first stage eases you in nicely...

Of course, it's entirely possible the character was conceived purely for the oh-so-hilarious pun on the name of James Bond, but credit where it's due - this chirpy Underwater Agent has actually had a pretty decent and original game built around him. Taking yet more inspiration from 007's adventures, the antagonist here is the evil Doctor Maybe. After taking over the megacorporation, Acme Oil Co, he has been wreaking havoc in the world's oceans by dumping radiation and toxic waste and endangering all the life that dwells within, as well as generally causing a giant mess and making a nuisance of himself. In order to save our beautiful seas, the British Secret Service turns to James Pond to clean up the mess caused by Dr Maybe and prevent him from making any more.

These murky brown depths are dangerous!

There are twelve missions in total which lay between our piscine hero and victory. James himself is a happy looking fellow (who sports a tuxedo with bow tie, of course) who must swim through these stages completing set tasks before he can gain access to the next. The mission objectives (which are detailed in a briefing beforehand) are many and varied but generally entail finding and collecting an item and taking it to another location and include rescuing trapped lobsters, finding lost gold bars in a shipwreck, leading threatened seals and fish away from danger, plugging holes in a leaking oil tanker etc. Each mission has a time limit too. It's usually pretty generous but if you run out of time, one of Dr Maybe's special agents will come after you!

Plant the dynamite to blow up the rig!

You'll start each mission from a 'Home Pipe' which can be entered at any time. It leads James to his home where he can stash items he's picked up for use later on. Other pipes can also be found which you must enter to finish a mission, and there is usually more than one. They are all locked to begin with but as you progress through the mission they will each become unlocked once you've completed a certain amount of your mission. This does of course mean that you won't necessarily complete the missions in numerical order, but you will have to tackle them all at some point. The stages are filled with millions of often nonsensical items to collect for bonus points such as clocks, false teeth, teddies, and near enough anything else you can think of.

Searching a sunken wreck for treasure!

More dangerously, the stages are also filled with many enemies too. A few of these are human but, curiously, most of them are fellow animals like snails, octopuses, crabs, and even other fish. There's also squids, which squirt ink at you if you touch them, turning the screen black for a few seconds, and jellyfish which are, rather unhelpfully, invisible. I don't know what Dr Maybe's done to these innocent animals to turn them against our hero. Maybe they've been brainwashed! Regardless of what form the enemies take, they are dealt with in the same way - Bubble Bobble-stylee. In other words, James can blow bubbles in which the enemies are trapped, then he can pop them to receive more bonus items. It's not really worth going out of your way to clear them though as not only do they deplete your 'Fishometer' (energy) very quickly, but they'll often regenerate as soon as you move away too. Bah, cheating sons of bitches!

A 'bad' bonus room...

Not all ocean dwellers are out to cause James such hardship however. Starfish, of which there are four types, are more helpful. Red ones give you super speed (with seven of them giving you hyper speed), yellow ones refill your Fishometer, green ones give you extra bubble power, and dark ones stick to you and drag you around (which isn't too helpful, I guess). Oysters are rather useful too. Collecting one will see it follow you around and neutralize the next eight enemies it comes into contact with. There are lots of other items lying around the seabed as well. Fairy Wands are a type of temporary invincibility shield, Potions make all the enemies on the screen disappear, Hearts give you an extra life, Top Hats act as armour, Goldfish Bowls extend the amount of time you can spend out of the water, Shades allow you to spot the otherwise invisible Jellyfish, and the Ray Gun offers more efficient enemy destruction.

The inevitable Arctic stage. Watch out for Polar Bears!

Others items are less helpful. Bombs, for example, explode as soon as you touch them, Skull Potions will make all the enemies on the screen extra nasty, bottles of Cod Liver Oil make you dizzy and hard to control for a short while, and Glue Pots stick you to wherever you're standing. All but the first mission are comprised of several sections. You can travel between them at will but it does make for some fairly large stages. To help you get around them more quickly some stages feature mushrooms which teleport you to another mushroom on a different part of the level. James is not equipped to survive above sea-level but he is able to jump out of the water for short periods, and occasionally a mushroom may transport him to a location on land so he must act quickly to avoid 'drowning'.

Hmm, is this wall helpful or unhelpful?

There are also numerous secret rooms on each stage which are entered by going through small holes in the seabed and walls. There are three different kinds - good, neutral, and bad. If you re-enter a secret room, it will always be a bad one regardless of whether it was to begin with or not. Secret rooms invariably contain bonus items for points but can give you some special items too. Hurry though, your Fishometer will gradually fall when you're inside and the bad ones are packed with enemies too! There's a lot of enemies in James Pond too, and it does make it a pretty taxing game, especially given their self-resurrection abilities, but I'm pleased to say it's not one of those games that suddenly gets impossible either. It was originally converted to the MegaDrive from the Amiga though, so are there any differences?

Unlock each exit the more you achieve...

As is often the case with Amiga-to-MegaDrive conversions, the most obvious difference is the number of simultaneous colours used, with this version featuring noticeably fewer colours in the backgrounds. It still looks pretty nice though and the sprites are nigh-on identical. James himself is an appealing chap and the other characters are nicely detailed too. I'm particularly fond of the dippy-looking fish you have to guide to safety on the second mission! The sound is also of a high-standard with lots of great effects and some fantastic upbeat and jolly music, especially the second mission once again - I guess that must be my favourite stage! The presentation is impressive throughout which is helped by the great atmosphere the game creates, thanks partly to the chortlesome Bond puns which aren't limited to the main character - the game frequently makes Bond-like remarks and the missions are appropriately named too (e.g. A View to a Spill).

Eeek! Cannons one side, evil turtles the other!

As you may have guessed by now, this first adventure of James Pond, as well as being surprisingly deep (no pun intended), is also a unique and sometimes slightly bizarre one! For one thing, it's a 'platform' game which involves very little actual platforming. The water-based setting allows for a few new ideas and these are mostly very good ones. The stages are quite large and mostly non-linear in their layout and the environmental theme of the game has renewed relevance these days. I've always been keen on mission-based games and those that comprise this one are very enjoyable to carry out. It's more than just a simple collect 'em up too - the objectives are varied and the stages can get quite complex. The difficulty curve is just right as well - every time I play it I seem to get a little further. James Pond isn't perfect and can be quite frustrating now and then, and it pushes the MegaDrive's limits in no ways, but it's very pleasant for the most part, plus it feels pretty good saving the environment and all!

RKS Score: 7/10

Top Five Stallone Films

Poor old Sylvester Stallone has never had it easy really, has he? He might be a bit of a mumbling beefcake but that's far from the extent of his abilities. As well as being a surprisingly talented actor, he's also an accomplished screenwriter and director as well. Sure, he had a rough patch around the time of his ill-advised remake of Get Carter, but for most of his career a 'Stallone film' has been a near guarantee of entertainment and he's rarely disappointed.

I'm sure not everyone will agree with my choices here. Yes, some of the action films he's starred in such as Cobra, Cliffhanger, Demolition Man, and Daylight are very enjoyable as well, and probably remain some of the films he's best known for, but most of them would potentially be just as enjoyable with a different action star in the lead role. The films that comprise this Top Five, however, are in my view the kind that Sly excels at and which wouldn't be quite the same with someone else starring...

5. Over the Top (1987)

A guilty pleasure of mine back in the day, this one, plus it's a favourite of my wife's so I'm honour-bound to include it! Sly plays the splendidly-named long-distance trucker, Lincoln Hawk, who spends his time entering arm-wrestling competitions for extra cash between trucking jobs. However, his wife, who he left a decade before, is now gravely ill so he soon finds himself lumbered with their son. Cue a father-son bonding road-trip punctuated by the odd arm-wrestling competition which offers the young boy ample opportunity to cheer for his old man, which of course culminates in a final confrontation with an old rival at the World Championships in Las Vegas. Sure, it's all pretty corny and predictable stuff but Sly makes you cheer for his down-trodden losers like no one else and I just can't help but enjoy this lesser-known example.

4. Lock Up (1989)

Everyone loves a good prison film don't they? Few are of Shawshank Redemption standards - not many films are, nevermind prison films - but they have the potential to borrow elements from nearly every other genre, and so are rarely anything less than entertaining. This effort sees Sly, as Frank Leone, nearing the end of his time in a minimum-security prison when he manages to incur the wrath of the prison warden. So ensues a transfer to a maximum-security facility where the warden does all he can to make Frank's life hell. I'm not sure if I'm alone in my appreciation of this film or not - it wan't exactly a smash hit - but both Stallone and Donald Sutherland as the warden are superb in their roles and help make this a thoroughly enjoyable prison film with all the usual trimmings.

3. First Blood (1982)

After ensuring his first franchise was well established, Stallone then moved on to what would become another of his most iconic heroes. Playing on the success of the Rocky series with its tagline, the strength of Sly's name was also enough for his script changes to be taken on board after countless other stars had turned down the role. The newly-sympathetic character of John Rambo was soon born and so too was one of the finest films of the early 80's. Thanks to Stallone's fantastic performance it's impossible not to feel for poor old misunderstood Rambo as he's hounded by an overzealous sheriffs department and equally hard not to cheer for him as he takes them all out, one at a time.

2. Cop Land (1997)

Chortles were heard far and wide when Sly was cast in this star-filled crime saga. He often (rather unfairly) gets criticised for his acting when he's surrounded by unknowns, so how can he hold his own when acting opposite the like of Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Harvey Keitel, or Robert Patrick? The answer is - very well! Playing the sheriff of a small town populated by the bulk of the NYPD, Sly's Freddy Heflin is polite, helpful, and mild-mannered, but is looked down on by most of the cops who live on his turf, mainly on account of his failure to become a cop himself. It's not long before corruption rears its head though, and Freddy become more and more determined to clean up his town, culminating in an explosive finale. Strangely, Cop Land was a bit of a flop but I really don't know why - it's a fantastic film and features Sly in arguably his greatest acting role yet.

1. Rocky (1976)

Probably Stallone's most iconic character of them all, Rocky Balboa is the ultimate rags-to-riches story and parallels Sly's own fortunes to some degree too. He wrote the script for the film himself but studios wanted to hire a big name to play the main character. Sly was adamant that the role should be played by him though, and his determination was to the benefit of the film as well as his career with it picking up ten Oscar nominations. It was made on a shoe-string budget but is still rightly regarded as the best entry in the six-strong series of films. Most of the others are good but there are few films around, even now, that manage to appeal to as broad an audience as Rocky whilst packing such an emotional punch as this original.

Game Gear Games #1

Halley Wars (1991)
By: Taito  Genre: Shooting  Players: 1  Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Sega Game Gear  First Day Score: 32,310
Also Available For: Famicom Disk System

Any geeks around my age probably remember the last appearance of Halley's Comet well. It was 1986 and the arrival of this celestial wonder in our skies was met with much fanfare and merriment, and with good reason - it was quite a sight. Fast forward a few hundred years, however, and its return on this occasion brings with it a rather unwelcome surprise. The armies of the conveniently-named Lord Halley are using the famous old comet as cover to launch an attack on the free peoples of Earth! I expect that raised a smile, but unlike most shmups (near enough every one ever released, in fact) this seemingly nonsensical premise does actually serve a purpose in the game, and it's a pretty darn good idea too!

The game begins immediately after your ship leaves Earth's orbit with the invading fleet already close by. Your specially-designed fighter is quite literally all that stands between them and our fragile blue world and in the case of this game it's doubly important that you take out as many as possible - any enemy vessel that gets past you unscathed makes it back to Earth, causing some damage in the process. To this end, there is a 'damage-meter' in the corner of the screen which gradually fills up as objects advance beyond your position. It is of course game over if the armies of Lord Halley destroy your ships and you run out of lives, but your mission will also be over if the level of damage on Earth reaches 100%. The percentage is decreased at the end of the stage by increments related to your score, but it can soon climb again on the next stage so it's vital to destroy as many enemies as you can.

Enemies vessels consist of the usual small fighters with the odd larger, more powerful craft too. Some later sections feature guns emplacements too but the enemy has also managed to send lots of smaller comets in Earth's direction too. These, if undestroyed, cause significantly more damage to the Earth than enemy fighters do, so it's even more important to take them out. To help you do this, your little ship has a basic forward shot. There's no other weapons, strictly speaking, but this shot can be significantly powered-up by collecting the usual icons. Other icons can be found to speed up your ship or equip it with a shield which lasts for a set number of hits, and it can also be armed with up to four drone-type devices which fire shots of their own. They are, however, fairly easily destroyed but you can jettison them voluntarily, with each acting as a smart bomb.

There are six stages altogether with each taking place progressively further away from the Earth. The first sees you travelling past the Moon with the next taking place over Jupiter and among the asteroid field in that region, and you'll continue right up until the final stage over the comet itself. Despite the occasional change in backdrop though, the stages are mostly space-based ones and therefore aren't particularly varied to look at. It's a similar story with the sprites, with only a handful of new ones appearing through the game. There's not often too many enemies on the screen at once either, although that's more understandable. Everything is nicely drawn and runs smoothly though and the bosses aren't bad, with the little Game Gear display handling the action admirably and with little flicker evident.

I've seen screenshots of the game before though, so I knew roughly what to expect. It was how the game played that I was most interested in, mainly due to the rather indifferent reception it received when it accompanied the Game Gear's launch here in the UK. While it's true that I've played better vertical-scrollers on the Master System, I'm not sure it's fair to judge this game by the same standards. All the action has to be larger, for starters, so players don't strain their eyes to see what they're doing. Taito may have gone a bit too far in that regard but Halley Wars is still a good-looking game, has nice music, and is very enjoyable to play as far as I'm concerned. It's quite easy as shmups go - you keep your cannon-upgrades when you die, for example - but its 'Earth damage' system is pretty neat and means you'll have to take more risks than you otherwise might, making it a better game and also giving it something to stand out. Give this oft-overlooked title a try.

RKS Score: 7/10

Exploring the NES - Part 4

In my time as a gamer I've owned, or at least used, most of the major computers and consoles, but of the ones I haven't, I think the NES was the most seriously neglected. I'd like to think over the course of the last couple of months I've gone some way to making amends for that here at Red Parsley. With the help of some of my fellow bloggers I've tried and enjoyed many games for the system (although surprisingly still not some of the biggest names), with each instalment featuring the recommendations of one of them. This is the final part of the series and it features the games recommended by Bryan Ochalla (check out his great blog here). So, thanks, Bryan, here's how I got on with your recommendations! :)

Final Fantasy (1987)
Of course, I've heard this one mentioned infinity times over the years but, and this is a bit of an embarrassing admission actually - this is the first time I've played any Final Fantasy game! I did nearly get caught up in the hysteria surrounding the seventh game but the one that started it all off is a very different game, as you might expect. I've heard that it's not aged well and, although I haven't spent a huge amount of time with it yet, I think I've got a pretty good feel for the game and have to agree with that assessment. The graphics and music are quite nice but it's very basic as RPG's go. Of course, it was one of the first ones so it's nothing to hold against the game but to be brutally honest I just don't often have the time for games like this these days, as much as I'd like to. Still, it saved Square and was a smash-hit so I'll persevere for a while more out of respect...

Kid Icarus (1986)
I really didn't know what to expect from this one. I've heard of it, of course, but that's about it. It was developed alongside the great Metroid and has never really emerged from the sizeable shadow cast by Samus' first adventure but, as I've recently discovered, that shouldn't suggest it's any less deserving of attention. It's much more of a 'proper' platformer than Metroid but is noteworthy for other reasons. The stages, for example, are vertical and charge you with climbing to the top of each to escape the Underworld and defeat Medusa. It's a very difficult challenge, notoriously so in fact, but it's an enjoyable one too. The graphics are pretty nice and it has perhaps the catchiest music since Bubble Bobble, but the thing I liked the most about it is the intricate stage design. A little frustrating but playable and very addictive. In fact... hold on, I'm having another go!

Metroid (1986)
Talking of Metroid! It's notable for being one of Nintendo's first games that was aimed at an older audience, and I was particularly looking forward to giving it a try, so I'm glad someone recommended it - thanks Bryan! I bought Super Metroid for my SNES on a whim many years ago, not knowing much about the game, and was soon blown away by its sheer brilliance. This game was obviously less of a surprise but I was still impressed by how similar it is to its bigger brother. It looks and sounds atmospheric and (probably) involves a very lengthy challenge. Like Final Fantasy, it'll take a lot longer than I've given so far to see everything this one has to offer (I still haven't even finished Super Metroid!) but I love to get stuck into a good arcade adventure like this so I'll make sure I give it a few... weeks!

Duck Tales (1990)
Blimey, this one's a toughie, isn't it?! I remember its great reviews in magazines of the day so I knew it was good but as far as Disney games are concerned, I was brought up on a diet of flashy but not especially challenging offerings on Sega's consoles so I naturally expected this to be similar. However, whilst its basic gameplay and audio/visual style may resemble those games, I found it quite a bit more difficult. It did help when I worked out how to defeat the enemies though! The object here is simply to help Scrooge McDuck collect lots of treasures and these are found both in treasure chests and hidden in scenery throughout the game's five stages which can be tackled in any order you want. I think I prefer Lucky Dime Caper on the MS but this is still an entertaining platform adventure which should keep me occupied for a good while. It did seem to be blighted by some rather serious slow-down though, or is that just my PC?

Little Nemo (1990)
I didn't know anything about this one, or even the comic series that inspired it, but the presence of 'Nemo' in its title suggested to me that it might be a water-based adventure of some description. Clearly I was very wrong, for it seems that the comic and this game follow the dreams of Nemo, a young boy who's on a quest to reach Slumberland and the princess that dwells therein. The stages are large and laid out in a non-linear way and, being dreams, are also rather surreal at times! To finish each, Nemo must find several keys and unlock the exit. Each stage includes lots of scary animals but some can also help him - by feeding them candy, he can assume their characteristics! It's a great idea and adds some variety to an already enjoyable game. It looks nice too and has some catchy music which help prolong the appeal of this interesting game further.

So, that's the NES explored! My thanks to Eric, Sean, Stiggy, and Bryan for their recommendations for this feature. Next, I'll be moving on to a very popular but older console that was a little before my time. Let the exploration commence!


Red Parsley Exploring the NES Series:
Part 1    Part 2    Part 3    Part 4

Mobile Games #4

Bubble Shoot (2010)
By: SPElements  Genre: Puzzle  Players: 1  Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Android
Also Available For: Nothing

There's a good few talented individuals out there making original, brand-spanking-new games for the various mobile platforms but it's only to be expected that there's also a good few rip-offs and rehashes of existing classics doing the rounds too. This is fine, of course, as long as no one's getting hurt as they say, and the best part is - most of them are free!

Take Bubble Shoot, for example. I was just casually browsing the Android Market, looking for nothing in particular, and there it was, for no pounds and no pence! There's no prizes for guessing which game it draws its inspiration from and it's a pretty basic version at that. There's no amusing characters at the bottom of the screen and there's no fancy backgrounds either (although the original only had one really, and that was quite late on). What it does have is a handy touch-screen method of bubble placement and practically unlimited stages. Regular updates continue to add new ones and there are now literally hundreds available to play. As you might imagine, due to this the difficulty here is somewhat unbalanced with a ten-second stage following one you've been stuck on for half an hour, but it's hard to complain when it all costs you nowt.

There's rather a lot of Puzzle Bobble clones available on both Android and iPhone markets but it probably doesn't make too much different which you choose. Most of them are free and they are perfect time-wasters for the usual occasions when such distractions are welcome. The only real gripes are the game's somewhat drab looks (although fancier ones are available), absence of music, and slightly iffy bubble placement (although this really depends on how big your fingers are!). It's still a entertaining and addictive game though, and there's not too many people who wouldn't get some sort of enjoyment out of the colour-matching bubble-popping action here.

RKS Score: 7/10

MegaDrive Shmups #4

Kuhga - Operation Code Vapor Trail (1991)
a.k.a. Vapor Trail: Hyper Offense Formation
By: Data East / Telenet Japan  Genre: Shooting  Players: 1-2  Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Sega MegaDrive / Genesis  First Day Score: 336,700
Also Available For: Arcade

I've played a lot of MD shmups. Back in the late 80's and early 90's they were probably the genre that occupied the most of my time and the console I spent the bulk of my time on was inundated with them. I guess the subsequent content here at Red Parsley reflects that to a degree but I've noticed that I still keep getting asked why this game, simply Vapor Trail to its fans, hasn't received any attention. The simple answer to that is - it's one that I've never played... that is, until now! I've never really been overly concerned with playing it due to the rather indifferent reception it received in the magazines of the day, but it's time to look past all that and give the game its chance to impress me. Who knows, maybe I'll even have to re-work the Top Five MegaDrive Shmups list...

Regardless of its quality, it was lucky MegaDrive owners who were the only ones able to play this Data East coin-op outside of its arcade home too, and it's a pretty close conversion. The rather unimaginative story is your garden variety 'evil terrorists threaten the world' type affair. Specifically, a group known as DAGGER has occupied New York and taken control of nuclear missile silos. Unless the world's governments yield power to them, they'll rain nuclear fire on the world! So, it's up to you (and a friend), as Special Forces pilots, to save us all from realising this grimmest of scenarios. And lo, another military-style vertical-scroller is born. Before jumping head-first into the action, however, you have to choose a sword with which to strike back. In other words, you can choose between three different jet fighters - the Silph, the Valkyrie, and the Seylen.

As well as differing a little in appearance, these jets feature the usual fast-but-weak, slow-but-strong, and jack-of-all-trades variations. To be honest though, it doesn't make a great deal of difference which one you choose as once a couple of power-ups have been collected they all perform at a similar level! They can all take a couple of hits before they go down, too, which can certainly prove helpful! Anyway, once you've chosen you'll take to the skies over New York, the first of six fairly long stages. Here you'll be up against a startlingly well-equipped terrorist army consisting of jets and helicopters, which form the bulk of the airborne assault, as well as various tanks and guns which obviously attack from the ground. As is often the norm, each stage also includes a larger mid-stage enemy and culminates in a boss fight. These generally consist of larger variations of standard enemies. The first stage, for example, features a giant tank in the middle and a battle-chopper at the end which launches barrages of homing missiles at you.

The six stages here are set over some familiar landscapes. As mentioned, the first takes place over a city before you move on to a desert stage. Next up is a forest stage which features some very tough trains festooned with guns, followed by a sea-based stage where the ground-based enemies are replaced by various gunboats. The penultimate stage starts off over a cityscape at night before revisiting some of the previous backgrounds and the final stage is pretty much one long boss fight! As always, you can increase your jet's manoeuvrability by collecting speed-ups and there's a selection of weapon power-ups available too. Each jet is initially armed with a weak but rapid-fire Vulcan cannon which can be increased in power and range, but the effect of the upgrade depends on which jet you're using. Other weapons include Bombs (powerful but short range), Defender (eight-way shot - great range, slow fire-rate), and Homing Missiles.

A power-up that varies between the three jets even more is the S-Unit. This device attaches to your jet and provides a unique weapon for each - a wave shot for the Silph, a flame-thrower for the Valkyrie, and multi-directional shot for the Seylen - which replace your existing weapon. If you want, you can jettison the S-Unit which has the effect of a smart bomb. Pressing the same button when you don't have an S-Unit activates your jet's charge-shield thingy which not only protects you from damage for a short while but also lets you cause damage to enemies at the same time. Even better, this ability can be used as often as you want as it's powered by an energy bar which slowly refills itself after use.

Well I've finally played Vapor Trail, pretty extensively too, so I've finally got something to say to those who complain about its absence in the Top Five list, but does it deserve a place there now? I would have to say no but it's not too far off. My initial impressions of it were good. Graphically everything moves fairly quickly and smoothly but the longer I played the less impressed I became. The scenery is a bit of a mixed bag. The first and third stages are quite nice but the others are rather plain and repetitive. The sprites are even more repetitive with few new ones introduced after the first stage, and there's some considerable slow-down later on. Musically things are better. There's some good tunes here but sadly the sound effects are quite poor and there's some horrible digitised speech.

Happily the game plays well enough to overlook these things to a certain extent - it has nice control and collision-detection, it's a good challenge, and it isn't particularly unfair, but at the same time it doesn't really have any stand-out features either. There's nothing actually wrong with Vapor Trail, it's just that nearly every aspect of it has been seen dozens of times before in games like Twin Cobra, Raiden, Aero Fighters, etc, and they're no better here. By all means give this game a go if you don't have many requirements beyond shooting stuff up, you could certainly do a lot worse on the MegaDrive, it's just frustrating because Vapor Trail is a slick, challenging, and enjoyable game, not to mention a top-notch conversion, and with a bit more originality and creativity it could've been a classic.

RKS Score: 7/10

Gaming Memories - Part 4

I loved my Master System. It was my first ever console and it's arguably still the system I have most affection for. My pivotal encounter with OutRun which led to my purchase of Sega's great console may have been the catalyst for my subsequent interest in videogames but I did have a few gaming experiences prior to those. Perhaps they failed to captivate me as much - I suppose I would've hassled my parents for a computer or console earlier otherwise - but I still look back on them fondly all the same. Here at Red Parsley I've already had a fond look back on some of my gaming experiences, but this time I'll be going way back to recall my first ever encounters with videogames.

My earliest memory of any videogame was when I visited my sister's friend's house. Here I found the friend's younger brother playing a curious black & white tennis-like game which I soon learned was called 'Pong'. I played it for a short while with him but wasn't especially taken by it, but I did leave thinking that his family were rich. Soon after this I went to stay with at my auntie and uncle's house for the weekend and soon discovered my cousin's prize possession - an Astro Wars game. Now this did interest me! I was instantly transfixed by its colourful Galaxian-style gameplay and noisy sound effects, so much so in fact, that I did precious little else that whole weekend than play Astro Wars. Even as my parents came to collect me I was still playing it in the car before reluctantly handing it back to my lucky cousin! This encounter led me to a brief flirtation with some similar arcade games of the day.

Indeed, it wasn't long before my dad was dropping me off at my youth club with a 50p piece which was soon shoved straight into the waiting Space Invaders machine. Even better than this was a week-long school trip which came soon afterwards. To my amazement, the place we were staying had a game room where everything was on free-play, and this included the mighty Centipede! These games were all great fun but they didn't strike me in quite the same way as Astro Wars, but at the same time I have long suspected that if I played it again now, I'd be amazed that I ever liked it at all! Last November at the R3Play gaming expo, I was presented with a chance to find out, and to my surprise and delight, it's still great! Many of these LED/LCD games are now highly desirable as collectors items and there was a huge variety of them made back then, but despite that, this remains my only venture into their simple but addictive world.

Did you like any of these kinds of games in your youth? If so, which was your favourite, and is it still enjoyable today? Maybe I can try out some more of them next November...

Overhead Racers #8

Enduro Racer (1987)
By: Sega  Genre: Overhead Racing  Players: 1   Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Sega Master System  First Day Score: 8
Also Available For: Arcade, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum
Download For: Wii Virtual Console

Sega sure had a fine run of arcade hits in the mid-80's and perhaps the most popular of them were their 'Super Scaler' faux-3D games. This advanced technology was ideal for making racing games and many of those that appeared are now looked back on as classics, but one of them has seemingly been forgotten about. Poor old Enduro Racer isn't spoken about with such reverence as Hang On or OutRun nowadays, it's hardly spoken about at all in fact! It certainly isn't from a lack of availibility - it was converted to most home systems of the time, and fairly accurately too for the most part. One, however, saw a significant change, and ironically it was the one for Sega's own console...

Yes, that's right - for some reason Sega opted to perform a surgical procedure on the Master System version of their arcade hit which resulted in a rather different game. As you've probably noticed, the into-the-screen racing action of the arcade game is largely the same here but the viewpoint has been shifted to a 3D-isometric one. This does little as far as the premise is concerned - you're still in control of a motocross-style bike and the object of the game remains to race it as fast as possible through the courses. If you reach the end of a course before the time limit expires, you'll qualify to race on the next. Where the change in viewpoint has had an effect is on the courses themselves. As before they are all strewn with obstacles and hazards to impede your progress but here they are all flat and straight.

Due to the lack of corners and hills, the amount of hazards on each course has been increased here to compensate. As well as lots of ramps, the type of hazards generally include things like rocks and plants, but they are often unique to each course too. For example, the second course is set amidst ancient ruins, the fourth is partially flooded, and the fifth takes place on a crumbling mountain-side road! Each course also features other racers as well. There are a mixture of car and bike-based opponents but there are no race positions up for grabs. Instead, you'll earn a point for each racer you pass. These points can then be 'spent' at the end of the race improving various aspects of your bike like acceleration, tyres, engine, suspension, etc.

There are ten courses altogether, compared to the five of the arcade version, but lucky owners of the Japanese 'Mark III' console benefited from this a lot more than most of us. In the rest of the world, you see, the MS version of Enduro Racer had five unique courses which were repeated to total ten courses. Further tinkering by Sega, however, meant that Japanese gamers were treated to a 2Mbit cartridge, rather than the 1Mbit one Europe and the US saw, which resulted in the Japanese game having ten different courses, including a snow and desert stage. Bah! As well as a couple of other minor changes, such as the title screen, these additional courses afforded by this extra space is enough to make it worth trying to obtain the Mark III version, for fans at least!

I'm still not sure why Sega did it. It's not like the MS couldn't have handled a proper arcade conversion. Hell, even the humble Speccy managed a reasonably faithful conversion! Perhaps it was supposed to be their answer to Nintendo's Excitebike, but they could've tried both kinds of game, surely? Oh well, it doesn't matter now I guess, and fortunately the end result is an enjoyable and addictive, not to mention unique, racing game anyway. It looks and sounds pretty nice too, with some great backgrounds, smooth scrolling, and decent music, and the variety between the courses is nice (for Japanese gamers, at least!). The action can get pretty fast and challenging but with some practise you shouldn't have too much trouble seeing the later stages, and refreshingly the other racers make mistakes too! Once you discover the charms of this curious little game, it's the kind that you'll stick on 'just for ten minutes' and find yourself still playing two hours later! Give this forgotten classic a bash and you'll see what I mean...

RKS Score: 8/10

Top Five NES Shmups

My previous Top Five Shmups features have so far been for systems I'm very familiar with and have used a lot over the years. Accordingly, I've compiled the lists based on my previous experiences with the systems in question, although with a view to re-doing them at a later date if any previously-unplayed games are discovered which deserve inclusion. As regular readers will know, however, I do not have much experience with the NES. In fact, before starting this feature, I'd never played a shoot 'em up on the old grey toaster. I've therefore had to start from the beginning and try out lots of shmups to find the best ones. I'm sure I missed a few good ones but here's what I found:

Games-Related Top Fives Disclaimer: I've traditionally stuck to the games I know and love so far, and these game-related top fives reflect that. One of the purposes of this blog is diversify my gaming experiences, to play games I haven't played before, so I will do new game-related top fives in a few years to see how different they are!

5. Section Z (1987)

I have distinct memories of this one being released to rather indifferent reviews at the time but I rather like it. It immediately reminded of Side Arms, and the two Capcom games do share a few features - both feature a flying spaceman holding a big gun which he can shoot forwards and backwards for example, but I found that this effort, which is actually the older of the two, has a few nice features that weren't carried over to the more famous game. For one thing it's made up of sixty stages! Admittedly they're pretty short ones but each ends at a transporter which lets you choose one of two next stages. Not all stages need to be cleared and some transporters will take you back to a stage you've already played but it's a great idea as it gives multiple routes through the game. Most other aspects of the game are good, if unspectacular, but I had a lot of fun with this one.

4. Life Force (1988)

I also remember the reception that this game received around the time of its release and, unlike Section Z, they were far from indifferent! Earning rave reviews across the board, Life Force is one of the NES games I've wanted to play for a long time, especially given my love of its prequel, Gradius. It seems those reviewers were right on the money too, this is a fantastic shooter! It's not a straight port of Salamander as some of the stages and bosses have seen some changes but it's still impressive stuff. Featuring a mixture of horizontal and vertical-scrolling stages and some new weapons, it's certainly a more varied game than its predecessor, and it's even a little more forgiving (just a little though!). The graphics and music are pretty good too and the only thing stopping it from earning a higher position is the rather trial-and-error nature of some sections.

3. Over Horizon (1991)

I have less vivid memories of this one but its distinctive looking first stage certainly rang a few bells. Indeed, it's graphics are superb throughout with that first stage featuring all manner of vegetation (non-lethal for the most part, luckily!) and later ones include some great-looking metallic, icy, rocky, and watery themes. Gameplay-wise it has a few tricks up its sleeve too. Your Mr Heli-like ship is small and manoeuvrable and can shoot both forwards and backwards (though not at the same time) and it's possible to customise the weapons and options set-up (that's Gradius-style options, not an options screen!). All this would be enough to make the game interesting but it's also really enjoyable to play. Enemies attack from your front and rear and many have unpredictable flight paths so there's a lot to keep you on your toes here! Great soundtrack too. Over Horizon is a fantastic and rather under-appreciated shmup (or so it seems) which I'm eager to play again!

2. Zanac (1986)

I'd never played this game on any format prior to this feature but its reputation very much proceeded it! It reminds me of the equally awesome Aleste (Power Strike) on the Master System so the praise it received wasn't ill-placed either. It's a fast-paced and addictive game to be sure, but it's also pretty flashy for its age. The story sees you attempting to infiltrate and shut down an advanced artificial-intelligence which mankind managed to bugger up or something like that, but more noteworthy is the AI of the game itself which changes the difficulty depending on the players actions! It's a great idea and makes the game a real challenge for gamers of any skill level. The graphics and music are nice too and there's a decent selection of weapon power-ups available. Overall, this is a top-notch blaster which is every bit as good as its reputation suggest, but it's not quite as good as...

1. Recca (1992)

Blimey, where the hell did this one come from?! I'd never heard of it before but I don't know how! Released fairly late in the Famicom's life, Recca was apparently used in Naxat's Summer Carnival competition in 1992. I'm not really sure what that's all about but the end result is a pretty incredible shmup which it's hard to believe is even running on Nintendo's little 8-bit box of wonders at times. It's a lightning-fast vertical-scroller featuring dozens of small enemy sprites all flying round in formation at manic speeds while your little ship tries to take out as many as possible and avoid the ones it can't. The graphics might not look much from the screenshot but believe me - what it lacks in detail or flashy backgrounds it makes up for with speed and sheer numbers of sprites! The game even verges on bullet-hell levels of intensity at times, and it's all accompanied by a great soundtrack and some fantastic sound effects. Recca is one short, sharp adrenaline-rush of a game, and what a rush it is!

Bomberman Series - Part 5

Bomberman a.k.a. Dyna Blaster (1990)
By: Hudson Soft  Genre: Maze  Players: 1-5  Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: NEC PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16  First Day Score: 70,200
Also Available For: Sharp X68000, Game Boy, Amiga, Atari ST, PC

The Bomberman series is a lot more extensive than many gamers realise but the style of game that most of us are familiar with today was born right here with this release. I remember being shown it briefly on a friend's Amiga, where it was known as Dyna Blaster, but it was years later I belatedly played it properly. This time I played it on the PC Engine and it was this system which many fans come to consider home for the series. Nearly all the characteristics which would go on to define the series became popular here starting with the appearance of our hero himself, White Bomber. Whilst being recognisable in some previous games, he never looked or moved as he should. Here, the endearing chap becomes the character we all know and love for the first time! However, no sooner has he gotten used to his new togs than his sibling, Black Bomber, has kidnapped the daughter of their creator!

The Floaters look happy enough...

It appears that sneaky Black Bomberman has also acquired a castle somehow, for he has imprisoned the young lady there. To reach her, White Bomberman must blast his way through eight rounds of action, each divided into eight stages, the last of which is home to a boss. These are initially one screen in size but soon become larger scrolling affairs. As always, each stage is filled with lots of destructible, or 'soft' blocks, and lots of enemies. To progress to the next stage you must access the exit which appears when each of Black Bomberman's cronies has been destroyed but you must also find it beneath one of the many soft blocks too! Also hidden beneath one soft block per stage is one of several power-ups. These can allow Bomberman to lay addition bombs at once or extend the range of the blast, and there are also speed-ups which may not sound very exciting but are extremely useful.

Oops! Bombed the exit! Run awaaaayyy...

These three are the most basic and plentiful of the power-ups but there are other helpful items too. Remote-control bombs are perhaps the most useful but others are available that let you pass through bombs and soft blocks and there's even shields and extra lives around if you look hard enough, or rather, if you bomb around hard enough! Yes, as I'm sure you've gathered, it's all pretty familiar stuff with one big exception. A majority of gamers associate the Bomberman games with the multi-player battle mode rather than the single-player game I've just detailed, and this release marked its first appearance. Hudson Soft however, rather than gradually introducing the concept over multiple instalments, have jumped straight in here with a five-player battle mode! This of course necessitated the purchase of a multi-tap but the poor old Engine only has one controller port anyway so most owners probably had one already!

Yep! The 'Battle Mode' is born...

It can't be a coincidence that Bomberman's sudden rise to super-stardom came shortly after the release of this game, and accordingly the appearance of its battle mode. I've always greatly enjoyed the one-player modes of the various Bomberman games but no one could deny how much fun the manic multi-player battles are. It's not the only improvement made to the series either. Some later instalments would get very creative with the stage designs from a graphical point of view and that was started here as well. The block and floor designs change with each round and new enemies are introduced every few levels too, although these are mostly taken from the previous game on the NES. The overall quality of the graphics reflects the added detail and pallette offered by NEC's turbo-charged system though and for the first time the series is looking really nice here.

This round appears to have been flooded...

There hasn't been as much of an improvement in the music and sound effects but they're still pretty good. There's lots of tunes, including one unique to each round, and they are very catchy, as is usually the case with Hudson games! Everything else is about what you'd expect here. The controls are simple and precise and the collision-detection is actually pretty forgiving. The solo game is quite easy as Bomberman games go but let's face it - as soon as the battle mode here was discovered, everything became surplus to requirements anyway! Luckily Hudson did a top job with it and there's no teething problems at all. The only reason one might play a later Bomberman game over this one is the dramatic increase in the range of power-ups available in them, but for PC Engine owners of the time, this game must've instantly become one of the must-haves for their console and made them very popular with friends too! Finally the series comes of age...

RKS Score: 8/10

Film Review #25

Moon (2009)
Director: Duncan Jones  Starring: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey (voice), Dominique McElligott, Rosie Shaw, Kaya Scodelario

Certificate: 15  Running Time: 97 Minutes

Tagline: "250,000 miles from home, the hardest thing to face...is yourself"

I don't know what it is about science-fiction films but they seem to have a funny way of alienating certain people. I know a couple of people personally who won't even look in the direction of a film if they believe it has anything remotely to do with space. I suppose they narrow-mindedly assume that it'll be some far-fetched laser-blasting alien war type scenario and that they'll instantly become 'infected' by geekiness if they watch it. Genre prejudice or not though, some sci-fi can be pretty cringe-inducing I must admit, but it's not all like that. Many examples can be just as gripping and entertaining as any Earth-bound film and some don't even feature much of that scary 'space' stuff. Moon is one of these films.

Sam, hard at work at the base...

As the name suggests, the film is set on our only natural satellite, the mysterious Moon. It's the year 2036 and mankind's energy needs are now catered for by the extraction of Helium-3 from the sun-drenched surface of the Moon. Working from the largely-automated 'Sarang' base on its surface, Lunar Industries employee, Sam Bell (Rockwell), oversees the unmanned 'harvesters' and periodically sends full containers of Helium-3 back to Earth. Much to his relief, he is nearing the end of his three-year stint in sole charge of the base and is looking forward to rejoining his wife and young daughter. After such extreme isolation with only an artificial intelligence computer named GERTY (Spacey) for company, Sam begins to fear for his own sanity.

The missus and daughter waiting back home...

The films begins with a voiceover which neatly sets up the isolated base up on the far side of the moon and it's here where we soon find ourselves. We spend a short time watching Sam going through his daily routines such as tending his plants, carving small wooden models, receiving messages from home, and even the odd bit of work including driving across the Moon's rugged surface in one of the big monster truck-like rover vehicles to retrieve full Helium-3 containers from the harvesters. It soon becomes apparent, however, that the extent of Sam's isolation has begun to effect him. With no live video link with Earth available thanks to a perpetually damaged satellite, his only contact with other people comes in the form of short recorded messages which GERTY plays for him, but they are few and far between. He talks to himself and has even started seeing things, but things really start to change after he has an accident in one of the rovers.

Out and about in a big Moon Rover vehicle...

I knew Moon was very well-regarded before I watched it but I intentionally found out as little else about it as I could. This turned out very well for me so I'll reveal as little here as I can as well. One thing I will say is that Sam Rockwell puts in an absolutely superb performance. I don't think it's spoiling too much to say that he completely dominates the screentime, but having only seen him in more light-hearted, comedic sidekick-type roles prior to this, such as in the outstanding Matchstick Men, I was unsure how he would handle not only being the leading man, but being THE man! My concerns were unfounded though and I think most viewers will be hugely impressed by his turn here. The sense of loneliness he puts across is genuinely affecting and it's hard not to feel for him when it finally gets to him.

Spooky corridor...

I suppose it would effect people in different ways but it's hard to think of a more desolate or isolated place than the Moon. It's not like he can just give up, quit his job, and decide to go home. He doesn't spend the time entirely on his own though. There's some flesh-and-blood company of a sort but the ever helpful GERTY is always on hand to help him out or give him a pep talk too. Actually, I must admit, when I first saw him, complete with assortment of mood-indicating MSN-style smiley faces, I did for the briefest of moments suspect a HAL 9000 type scenario, especially since he's voiced by Kevin Spacey, but Moon is a more intelligent film than that. It pays its respects to Mr Kubrick's masterpiece, and a few others like Solaris, but it's very much its own film, exploring some interesting themes and asking some profound questions.

So near and yet so far...

It's not often that a film like Moon comes along. Perhaps rather surprisingly it's a British film. It was made with a low-budget and received a limited theatrical release which is a real shame. As haunting and atmospheric as it is on the small screen, I imagine it would've been a lot more entrancing on the big screen, and the immersive soundtrack composed by Clint Mansell (Requiem for a Dream) would've been all the more poignant. It certainly isn't everyone's cup of tea - I know at least a couple of people who don't think much of it, but if you're like me and enjoy a slow-paced but always intriguing film, with a bit of mystery, that stays with you long after the credits roll, then do yourself a favour - find out nothing more about it, go and buy it, and watch it - you'll love it.

RKS Score: 9/10