Scrolling Fighting Games #5

Dungeon Magic a.k.a. Lightbringer (1993)
By: Taito Genre: Fighting Players: 1-4 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 112,490
Also Available For: Nothing

You know, it's pretty amazing when I stop to think about it, just how many games pass by going completely unnoticed by some, and this one is a great example. I like scrolling fighting games and I like nearly anything released by Taito, and yet, somehow, I had absolutely no idea this game existed until a couple of weeks ago! Of course, sometimes games are ignored on purpose as they suck arse, but surely a scrolling fighting game by Taito won't suck arse? It's a fantasy game with a medieval setting meaning there's a good helping of swords and sorcery, and, fittingly, there is also apparently an evil magician on the loose plotting to take over the Kingdom and generally spreading ill-will. He's even kidnapped a big-boobed princess for good measure and it's up to you to get her back!

Choose your hero...

Before you set off on your quest you must choose between four characters who are all slouching about in the local tavern, apparently in no hurry to avert the danger that lies ahead. They are Ash the Knight, Gren the Fighter, Cisty the Archer, and Vold the Wizard. They each have their strengths and weaknesses but since this game supports up to four players at once, you and your friends can of course choose all of them. Regardless of the size of your team, your goal is to travel the four corners of the kingdom, rescue the buxom maiden, and bring the evil forces to justice. There are four 'scenarios' to be vanquished in all, each of which is divided into thirty short stages. Splendidly, however, you won't slog through them all of the stages in one go as there are various routes through each scenario.

"Disturb my pint will you? You'll pay for that!"

The four playable characters in Dungeon Magic may have different appearances and styles but they all share the same basic moves and abilities. The attack button is used to perform lots of fairly weak attacks such as punches and kicks. Pressing it rapidly will unleash a combo ending with a more powerful strike, and if you're close enough to an enemy you'll also be able to throw them. The jump button allows you to execute flying kicks and the like and you can charge an enemy or group of enemies with the attack button along with a double-tap of the joystick in either direction. You can also perform some special moves by holding down the attack button - hold it for a few seconds to perform a Power Attack, hold it a little longer to unleash a Super Attack, and each character can call forth the power of a magic attack by pressing both buttons at once.

Stupid green Orcs think they're tough...

Of course, the specifics of each attack are unique to the characters. Each fighter has their own style and some are more effective with one type of attack than with another. For example, one may be better at long range attacks than close-quarters combat, another may have better throwing or charging attacks, while one (guess who) may have the stronger magic. They can all use weapons - Ash has a sword, Gren a gauntlet, Cisty a bow, and Vold a 'rod' - which can all by upgraded several times over. Some of these weapons bring with them the force of the elements, such as ice, fire, and lightning for increased enemy destruction, and some enemies are more vulnerable to one element than another. Other weapons can be collected along the way, such as axes, spears, etc, which can be thrown just the once and there are five types of shield which protect your precious energy meter from depletion for a few hits.

Help, please save me! And my boobs!

As well as all the monster-smacking action Dungeon Magic has to offer, there's also a few RPG-lite features here and there. For instance, the characters can 'level up' by collecting the many treasure items you'll find around each stage. These are sometimes left behind by defeated enemies but are also found in treasure chests or by breaking open certain things like crates and barrels. Collecting them gives you bonus points which is turned into experience points and when you pass certain scores your character will advance a level. Your character will also regain some energy when this happens and collecting the food items does the same. Some of the magic items are in hidden or hard to reach areas too, and require sneaky tactics to reach.

I HAVE THE POWER!!!

You can pick up barrels and crates which may at first seem like handy weapons. They can be used in this fashion, but they can also be stacked up and climbed to reach secret areas with bonuses. There's even a few limited platforming sections too - Taito have certainly done their best to keep things interesting here, and it works! The action begins as soon as you select a character, with your peaceful drink being interrupted by some vicious werewolves invading the White Deer Tavern. From here the game takes in small villages, forests, mountain passes, castles, and dungeons which are riddled with traps like spikes, moving floors, and falling spears, as well as many evil monsters like orcs, lizardmen, goblins, slimes, and beasts like dogs, bats, and serpents. Even some of the treasure chests attack later on! The end of scenarios are home to large boss monsters too.

Cisty's whirly magic completely misses some knights...

Taking them all on is very satisfying whichever of the characters you use. None of them destroy all-comers and none are hopelessly out of their depth either, so it's really just down to your own preference. Gren is probably the easiest character to use to start with and its with him that I first played through the game. It's not an unreasonably tough game to play through but is very testing at times. Some of the standard enemies can take quite a beating but if you take too long to move on to the next area some annoying ghosts begin swarming around too! Obviously it helps to clear areas quickly if you have any friends fighting beside you, and this game does indeed offer a rare opportunity for four-player fighting, but the screen can get very crowded if all four players are used. Luckily, the fighters can't hurt each other though, and it's great fun with any number of players.

The first boss and it's a tough bee-yatch...

The audio and visual style used by Taito is also a big attraction. Scrolling fighting games are usually viewed from an angled side perspective but they've gone for a full-on isometric viewpoint here. It's a perspective that works well with adventure games, but a fighting game? I imagine it might cause some problems if the fight mechanics here required greater accuracy but fortunately it's a fairly generous game with regards to that and the viewpoint works well, particularly with the alternate routes through the game. The backgrounds are excellently detailed and superbly drawn too, and the sprites are also nicely detailed and reasonably animated. Each character has a decent selection of moves and some of the special attacks and magics are a joy to watch. I suppose the backgrounds and enemy designs could be a little more varied but this is still a real good-looking game with superb attention to detail and the atmospheric soundtrack and solid effects only add to the wonderful presentation throughout.

Two stupid werewolf things about to be Power Attacked!

Aside from that disappointingly unimaginative story, everything about Dungeon Magic is of a very high quality. This is to be expected from Taito of course, but it's a release that was something of an oddity. It's a kind of game that was rather popular around the time it was released and it bears a few similarities to some of them such as Golden Axe, but it has plenty of its own ideas and is a pretty damn enjoyable example itself. It has four playable characters, a few secrets, and several paths through to its conclusion which means it has great replay value, and the controls, stage design, and presentation are all top-notch so you'll greatly enjoy doing so. Perhaps it's a freak that I hadn't heard of it until recently but I know it's far from a well-known game. Why was it never converted to any home systems? Whatever Taito's reasons are they caused a good few gamers, including myself, to miss out on an enjoyable and addictive brawler which would've gone down a treat.

RKS Score: 8/10

Budget Games #6

Super Robin Hood (1986)
By: Oliver Twins / Code Masters Genre: Platform Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: ZX Spectrum First Day Score: 14,630
Also Available For: NES, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC

The Oliver Twins might be most famous for the splendid Dizzy series, but their first foray into the the world of published games was this budget effort which was first released on the good old Speccy. I'm not sure what made them choose the legendary outlaw from Sherwood Forest as the basis for their first game but the result has seen poor old Maid Marian kidnapped once again by that super-cad, the Sheriff of Nottingham. It's therefore your job to fill the boots of our gallant hero and make your way through Nottingham Castle, battling against fearsome adversaries and overcoming cunning traps in order to free her. Followed, presumably, by a celebratory ravaging. Like many such games, Super Robin Hood is a flick-screen platform adventure, and standing between Robin and Marian are over forty screens of tough action.

Negotiating the many screens is done by using the ladders, stairways, and moving platforms that fill them. Robin is armed with an apparently magic bow which comes complete with infinite arrows, but they can only be used against the green guards. Other enemies such as the hideous rats, spiders, and eyeballs, must instead be avoided. Robin has ninety-nine health points at the start of the game. These are quickly lost by contact with enemies, or even by falling more than a few pixels, but can be replenished by collecting the 'tablets' that are dotted around the screens. There are also hearts which must be collected, presumably to prove your love to Marian (most women would just be grateful for the rescue!), and there are also keys that are needed to operate mechanical lifts.

It probably all sounds very generic and the style of the game is indeed a familiar one. It can be quite tough too. It's not as ridiculously unfair as many similar games though, and the screens are fairly well-designed. There's no hit-recoil when you touch an enemy so it's possible to get stuck and lose all your energy in one go, but you can just leg it if you get cornered without being bounced around all over the place as well. There's not too much back-tracking involved either, which is good news when you have invincible enemies to deal with! The graphics are quite colourful but the backgrounds plain, there's a nice title-screen tune but limited in-game sounds - it's all pretty average, no-frills stuff - entertaining for a while but not the most terribly gripping game of all-time. It's hard to complain for a couple of pounds though. Nothing special but a decent start from the Olivers!

RKS Score: 6/10

Top Five Babylon 5 Ships - Part 1

As great as the various incarnations of Star Trek are, everyone knows the superior show to watch from beginning to end is Babylon 5. This is of course mainly down to the amazingly intricate and enthralling story, superbly developed characters, and the ongoing arc that progressed them all, but it certainly didn't hurt that it had superb alien make-up and a realistic portrayal of the future of mankind, all the corrupt, war-starting lot of it! Something else it had over Star Trek is decent-looking spaceships and here are the best ones in my view:

5 - Earthforce Starfury

The main attack fighter of the Earthforce fleet, this little one-man craft is a superbly versatile thing. What it lacks in raw firepower it more than makes up for with its immense maneuverability. Each of the four 'wings' has a thruster on the front and back and any combination of these can be fired at any time making the Starfury capable of making pinpoint maneuvers and can turn on the spot, even performing one-eighty degree turns while flying in a straight line. It is perhaps for this reason that NASA actually expressed an interest in making it for real. It's not very tough but it looks nice and I get the impression it would be riot to fly one!

4 - White Star

There will be more on this one in the next post but whatever other qualities it may or may not possess, no one can dispute its distinctive looks which makes it seem as though the whole thing was cast from a single mold in its complete form. At first believed to be a one-off warship, it later turned out that, splendidly, there was an entire fleet of these things which combine Minbari and Vorlon technology to give it not only advanced offensive and defensive capabilities, but also a striking appearance which left no doubts as to its strength and agility.

3 - EarthForce Destroyer

Or more specifically, the Omega-class destroyer shown below which, at the time of the show, was Earthforce's largest and most powerful warship. One reason I like this ship so much it that, unlike Star Trek, it's actually a realistic estimation of the kind of ship we could be using in our early years of interstellar travel. It's a huge, lumbering hulk of a ship with much of its mass taken up by the rotating centre section, used to create artificial gravity for the crew. As you might imagine, it's not particularly maneuverable, but few ships look more imposing emerging from hyperspace than one of these, especially with its immense red laser batteries discharging. Cheer on Earth with their technologically-inferior-but-still-really-mean ships!

2 - Narn Heavy Cruiser

Poor old Narn, who couldn't feel for them during their war with the Centauri? One of the consequences of their conquering in that conflict was the loss of almost all of these G'Quan-class heavy cruisers, and mighty fine they are too. They are big, powerful ships clearly designed to look as though they have one purpose - to shoot up stuff! It almost seems as though the Narn designed the huge Heavy X-ray Cannons first, then built a pointy-looking ship around them and gave it scary warpaint! One of the most powerful non-First One ships around.

1 - Shadow Capital Ship

Eeeek! Even if you never got to see one of these things in action, they'd still look ultra-scary! Okay, I know it's a bit of a cheat - the Shadows had a good few million years to perfect their design after all - but what a crazy ship this is! All Shadow vessels are comprised of bio-organic materials and are in effect living creatures themselves but they also require a sentient, humanoid pilot who is integrated into the ship and operates in unison with it, and a ship so equipped is a devastating thing to behold. No other ship strikes fear into the heart like this one does. The appearance of one equals one thing - panic, hide, run!

So, these are in my opinion the best or most formidable-looking ships from the B5 universe, or at least the ones that have had a decent number of appearances in the show. Coming soon in a different post, however, will be the five deadliest. Ooooohhh!

Arcade Shmups #8

Darwin 4078 (1986)
By: Data East Genre: Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 38,740
Also Available For: MSX

After the wonder of my recent experience with Genetos, its evolutionary theme reminded me of a shoot 'em up I used to enjoy on my MegaDrive. It was a conversion of a Data East coin-op, Super Real Darwin, which as I discovered much later, actually turned out to be the sequel to this very game featured here. It takes place inside a gigantic spaceship which was created using Evol, the lifeforce of the planet Lakya which was unwittingly unleashed by the advanced inhabitants and harnessed by their neighbours from the planet Cokyo (nice name). What this all basically comes down to is a vertically-scrolling shooter in which you must pilot a biological ship through the giant ship over no less than sixteen stages, taking out as many of its defences as possible as you go.

At the start of the game your ship is fairly small and doesn't really pack much of a punch but shooting certain enemy craft will release floating 'E' capsules. These are concentrated pieces of Evol and each one that you collect will alter the DNA of your ship causing it to evolve to a more advanced state. Not only does this change its shape and appearance but also equips it with new and unique weaponry. Staying in one form without collecting further Evol capsules will cause the ship to 'devolve' to the previous stage after a short while, so it's necessary to keep collecting them throughout the game. There are nineteen different stages that your ship can potentially evolve or devolve through in total, but not all of them can be achieved simply by collecting capsules.

There are a couple of special forms, called 'Mutations', which can only be accessed under certain conditions. These have advanced offensive or defensive abilities but only last as long as any other state before devolving. The enemies are a mixture of small craft which zip about at high speed, larger craft which are slower but more powerful, and small guns dotted about here and there on the terrain below. Each variation of ship has a unique weapon, nearly all of which fire forward at differing rates and powers, but to take care of the ground targets you'll need to make use of your short-range bombs which don't go through the evolutionary process. Taking a hit from an enemy bullet causes your ship to revert to the most basic form. Taking a hit in this form means death.

Colliding with an enemy craft causes instant death no matter what form you're in. In this way, and indeed most others, Darwin 4078 is a fairly run of the mill vertical-scroller. Unlike the supremely awesome Genetos, the use of the evolution theme in Data East's game is little more then a gimmick to facilitate the various power-up weapons which could just as easily have been weapon pick-ups for an otherwise unchanging ship, much like most other shmups. Having said that, the change in shape each time your ship evolves usually brings with it an increase in size, and this can occasionally cause problems. It shouldn't take too long for a reasonably-skilled player to reach the upper levels of evolution, so to speak, and your ship in these states is pretty sizeable meaning it's harder to remain unscathed.

Another slight annoyance is that when an enemy hits you with a pot-shot, your ship devolves down through all the preceding states, one at a time, until it get to the tiny (and weedy) Pister ship. The game has pretty nice animation during these sequences but the problem is, you can't continue shooting until it's finished, and it takes a good few valuable seconds. Admittedly, you are invincible for these seconds and can ram enemy ships but it's disruptive to the flow of the game. The speed that the enemy bullets home in on you depends on how far away you are from the ships shooting them so you don't gain any advantage from keeping your distance in a small ship. Some of the enemies move pretty quickly too and take a few shots to destroy, even with a fully-evolved ship.

All this means you either have to carefully manage the evolutionary process of your ship or instead spend the game trying to steer a hulking great space-cruiser between the many ships and projectiles. The collision-detection often appears to be iffy too but it could be due to the constantly-changing size of your ship. Either way, it's a pretty tough game! All except the bosses which, for some reason, are particularly weedy. Most of them look extremely similar and can be taken down by a single volley from one of the more powerful forms of ship, so it's the actual stages themselves that present the biggest challenge here. But will you want to see it through to the end? Well, I can't speak for everyone but I wasn't very inspired to.

The music and sound effects are average and there are few different tunes, and graphically the game is rather disappointing too. There's a reasonable number of enemy sprite designs but they don't really look like anything in particular and, unlike your own ship, their animation is very limited. Equally uninspiring are the backgrounds. Some parts are detailed, others are not, but again they don't really resemble anything and the colours used throughout are rather dull and gloomy so the desire to see the later stages isn't very strong. In many ways this game reminds me of Slap Fight but Toaplan's effort was much more appealing in pretty much every way. The concept of Darwin 4078 isn't a bad one and the execution is hardly a disaster - there's even an innovation or two like the ability to stun and seize certain enemy ships - but it's more often an annoying game to play than an exciting one, and I think once all the different ship variations here have been seen, interest will wane quickly. It did for me, at least!

RKS Score: 5/10

Golf Games #3

Putt & Putter (1991)
By: SIMS / Sega Genre: Sports Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Sega Game Gear
Also Available For: Master System
Download For: Wii Virtual Console

Considering how little variety there is in the actual sport, it's surprising how many different kinds of golf games there are. As regular readers here will know, my favourite kind are the cartoony Japanese ones that started appearing around the early 90's, partly because they can be played at a non-sleep inducing pace, but also because their creators are generally much more inventive with their design. Another kind of golf game that could tick both of those boxes is the kind based on mini, or 'crazy' golf. In fact, given the nature of the game, it would be fairly easy to make these games among the most creative of all sports games. The first one I ever played was this little-known title which was one of the few games I had for my Game Gear. I remember getting a lot enjoyment out of it back then but how kind has time been to it in the fifteen years or so since I last played it?

It's a fairly simple game presentation-wise with basic title and options screens. Gameplay consists of two courses of eighteen holes each - a Beginner course and a Master course. As you might expect, the holes become increasingly complex and strewn with obstacles and traps as you advance through them but the object always remains to get the ball down the hole in as few shots as possible. You start the game with five balls and each hole has a par value. If you successfully putt it in fewer shots than the par, you'll get an extra ball; if you use too many shots, you'll lose a ball. Each hole starts at the same point and you get to position the ball anywhere within the starting area (a small square). You can then set the position of the camera which also gives you a good opportunity to have a look at the hole (giggity) before teeing off with the desired amount of power selected from the simple power-gauge.

The holes come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and are home to various features like slopes, pinball-style bumpers, slow-down areas, pools of water, etc. Most of the edges are like walls and will deflect the ball which means many of your shots can be rebounded all over the place, especially if you use too much power! The game alternates between two different coloured playing surfaces (green and blue) and two backgrounds (water and what looks like lava) which means it doesn't have a particularly varied look and even more repetitive is the tune that plays throughout which is pleasant enough to begin with but soon grates. Like most simple games though, it's just as playable as it always was. The way the holes are designed means some might take you one or two shots one day and ten shots the next, so it can be pretty frustrating on some occasions. The interface for aiming shots could be more accurate too, but it's a game that suits the little Game Gear well and it can be a decent challenge. Great fun and mighty annoying in equal measure!

RKS Score: 6/10

Doujin Shmups #2

Genetos (2009)
By: Tatsuya Koyama Genre: Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: PC First Day Score: 2,842,840
Also Available For: Nothing

I'm sure the recently started doujin feature here at Red Parsley will introduce me to some fantastic games by some talented guys (and gals?) that I may never have otherwise played but a big part of my motivation for starting it was to finally force me to get around to playing this game. I think it's probably fair to say that it's the most famous doujin shmup but does that make it the best? This is of course impossible for me say since I've only played one before it, but I will give it good going over anyway, and its popularity is immediately obvious! It's a game, you see, which is in part a retro homage to the shmups of old, but which is also a much more modern take on the genre, and its biggest trick is how it gets from one to the other.

It's a game billed as 'evolutionary shooter' which basically means it's a tribute to the genre as a whole, from its creation in the 70's right up to today's hardcore offerings. There are five stages in total, each of which represent an 'age' of shmup history. It starts off with a simple Space Invaders-style stage, then 'evolves' into a basic vertical-scrolling game. Here your ship is given more freedom to move around, although it's still restricted to the lower half of the screen, and the enemies are replaced by formation-flying ships. The third stage allows full movement of the ship around the screen and sees the introduction of additional armaments for your ship (such as bombs) as well as larger and more fearsome enemies to use them on. The fourth stage brings things more or less up to date by moving into a twinkly, neon-drenched bullet-hell scenario.

The fifth and final stage is almost as long as the previous four combined and is itself sub-divided into five chapters titled 'birth, variation, selection, prosperity and extinction'. As if this didn't all sound splendid enough already, it gets even better! Much of your progress through the game is dependant on your actions while playing. For example, throughout all of the stages downed enemies release small green floaty things called 'items'. When collected, these will gradually fill the meter at the bottom of the screen. When it's full, it's time for something that every shmup needs - a good boss fight! These are referred to as 'mutants' and are appropriate to the era the stage is representing. Shooting the standard enemies that each boss creates will continue to produce green thingies and collecting them here will start filling the item-meter again. When it's full for the second time, the game will dramatically declare a 'Generation Shift'.

The Generation Shift is the point at which your own ship evolves to the next era. As well as a change of appearance, this will also improve its firepower. This all means that it's effectively possible to make the stages last as long as you want. There are additional ways to change aspects of the game too such as not evolving your ship during the boss fight or by starting the final stage with a small number of lives. Extra weapons become available as your ship evolves but this can also depend on the conditions of play. One of the most entertaining power-ups is called 'Summon' and allows you to resurrect a previously-defeated boss to fight alongside you temporarily! Suffice to say, the 'evolution' theme isn't merely restricted to the differing stages - there's quite a bit more to this game than there may initially appear to be.

In fact, the quality of Genetos generally is so high that it's genuinely hard to believe that it's effectively a homebrew title and freely available to download. Every aspect of the presentation is faultless from the swish title and options screens to the fantastic fourteen-song soundtrack to the gorgeously-defined and detailed graphics - this really is a completely professional quality product which I, and no doubt many others, would have happily paid for if necessary. Obviously, by the game's very nature, the graphics get more impressive as you advance through the stages with the sprites getting bigger and more detailed until they reach the stage where they more closely resemble protozoa-like creatures than spaceships, and destroying them sees standard, fiery explosions gradually change into multi-coloured neon fireworks. Some of the later backgrounds are very impressive too, featuring all manner of twirly 3D patterns and landscapes.

Just about the only criticism I've seen levelled at Genetos is its difficulty. Surprisingly for a shoot 'em up, that doesn't mean it's impossibly difficult. It's actually a little too easy in the eyes of some. I certainly don't hold that against it though. After all, Koyama-san has clearly put a huge amount of effort into this superb game and must be justifiably proud of it, so who can blame him for wanting players to actually see it all? Not me, that's for sure! Besides, there are five different difficulty levels so if you like a tough challenge, simply select a higher level - there's one to cater for any skill level! Another decent feature is called 'Free Play' and allows you to select and play any stage, and it's also possible to save replays of your performance in the main game too.

Aside from being free and of exceptional quality, Genetos is understandably most famous for its evolution theme. However, far from being a cheap or unnecessary novelty, it has been well thought-out and superbly implemented by the talented Tatsuya Koyama, but even if the whole game was made like any of its single stages, it would still be a highly enjoyable game to play. There's a ton of options and features to be discovered and messed around with and the technical aspects of the gameplay, such as the collision-detection, are spot-on. During the end credits the programmer gives namechecks to various 'respect games'. I have a similar list of games in my head that I have enormous respect for and Genetos is now on it. If you have even the remotest interest in shoot 'em ups, or even videogames generally, download this immediately!

RKS Score: 9/10

Commodore 64 Games #2

Mayhem in Monsterland (1993)
By: Apex Computer Productions Genre: Platform Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Commodore 64 First Day Score: 71,950
Also Available For: Nothing
Download For: Wii Virtual Console

As loyal as I was to my delightful Speccy, by the time the nineties had arrived I had moved on to Sega's glorious Mega Power. Of course, even in the years prior to this, Sir Clive's finest was my main system of choice. These factors combined meant that by the time Mayhem in Monsterland had been released I scarcely even heard about it nevermind played it. Indeed, so late was the hour of its arrival that Apex's creation was played by few gamers. It's arguably a game that has become more famous as time has gone on, but why? Platform games were everywhere in the late 80's and early 90's so what makes this one so special? The very fact that I don't know means I think it's time I finally found out.

Platform is very much the category this game falls into too and it's one starring a small yellow dinosaur-like creature called Mayhem (oddly enough). He lives in a miserable place called Monsterland and he doesn't like living there. However, he discovers that it was once a bright and cheerful place until his dinosaur friend, Theo Saurus, messed it all up. Theo, you see, is a trainee magician who mistakenly stripped Monsterland of its happiness and now lives in an underground cave to evade the angry monsters who dwell above. Upon discovering this, Mayhem vows to restore the happiness to Monsterland. To do this he must travel through five large areas - Jellyland, Pipeland, Spottyland, Cherryland, and Rockland - collecting all the magic dust and magic stars he can.

You can move through each of the five lands that comprise the game at will. You start in the middle and can move left or right at whatever speed you like. Each one is divided into two parts - sad and happy - which means that they will initially be drab and grey. Your first job, therefore, is to collect a set amount of magic dust which is left behind by some of the monsters when they are defeated. Once you've got enough you'll need to find Theo so he can sprinkle the dust through the land, returning it to its much more colourful happy state. Then you'll need to go through the land again to collect a set quota of magic stars which are again left behind by some enemies or more commonly found floating around the newly-bright and cheerful landscape. Once this is done, the land is complete!

Mayhem is quite agile and can move around the multi-tiered stages quickly. He has quite an impressive jumping ability for one with such short legs too and is able to sustain one hit per life without dying. His initial means of defeating the various monsters is by jumping on them, Mario-style. Some later enemies require more than one jump each but even the larger ones can be put down by this method. He can also perform a high-speed charge at the monsters once he's collected the relevant power-up marked by a lightning bolt. Other stuff to collect includes a score multiplier (in the form of a rabbit for some reason), a shield, and a time-freezer, all of which last for a short while, as well as blue hearts to restore one hit, extra lives, and extra continues. If you return to a previously-visited part of the screen the enemies will have returned, but any power-up they may have carried will not be duplicated.

Whilst everything no doubt sounds reasonable enough so far, it's could also be said about a great many platformers of the day, so you may still be wondering what's so special about this quest headed by our primeval friend. I think this could be best answered by saying this: if Mayhem in Monsterland was released on the Master System or Amiga, it would be among either system's finest examples of the genre, so the fact that it's running on a Commodore 64 is pretty darn amazing! Although the colours used throughout are clearly from the C64's distinctive palette, everything else is beyond what I thought any of the 8-bit micros was capable of.

The only thing I'm not especially keen on is the music. There's numerous tunes, including different ones for 'happy' and 'sad' states in each stage. They're not as bouncy and jolly as I would expect for this kind of game, not even the 'happy' ones, but the sound effects are appealing. The music is a bit repetitive too (although the title screen tune is nice) but the fact that there even is music and sound effects is to be applauded! It's something that us console owners in the early 90's took for granted but the 8-bit computers generally had much more limited sound capabilities so it's both rare and welcome here! Everything else about the game is super-slick but the first thing you'll probably notice are the fancy graphics.

I'm not generally a fan of the C64's usual graphical style but this game is on another level entirely! The title screen features scrolling game backgrounds with sparkly wording and each stage is preceded by an intro screen, and when you actually start the game things get even better. Mayhem himself is a jolly-looking fellow despite his plight but he's about the only constant. When a stage turns from 'sad' to 'happy' the distant lightning disappears, the dark foreground colours become more vibrant, the backgrounds are a million times more cheerful, even the monsters change, turning from obscure, malevolent-looking creatures to jolly, cartoony characters (which still hurt Mayhem of course!). The detail on them is impressive too and they are all superbly animated.

The backgrounds could be a little more varied but the speed the games scrolls them at when Mayhem is charging around the place is amazing. There's even some parallax for heaven's sake! I've never been a C64 fanboy either, so there's definitely no danger of me showering this game with praise simply down to the "wow, I can't believe my little C64 is doing this!" factor - it really is that good, and not just technically. I've never played a game as fluid or intuitive as this on an 8-bit computer, not even my beloved Speccy. The going can be tough but the stages are long and very well designed and moving Mayhem around them is tremendous fun and also proves to be very addictive! I did have to re-learn pushing 'up' to jump though! It's also a great game for high-scores as you get bonuses at the end for collecting more stars than necessary as well as for any time remaining.

This was a game that appeared very late in the C64's life and was only just in time to feature in Commodore Format magazine's final issue where they famously awarded it with a score of 100%. Is a perfect game? No, of course not, there's no such thing as far as I'm concerned, but it certainly is a remarkable game which, despite the hype, has managed to exceed my expectations. I'm no C64 wizard and have only a vague idea of what the system is capable of, but even I know that this game achieves things on it that hardened Commodore fanboys must've thought impossible. That if nothing else would make it an essential title to own for fans of the system but, somehow, Apex have also managed to craft an exquisitely playable game which is now without doubt my favourite C64 game. I haven't played too many yet admittedly, but I can say with the utmost confidence that I don't think I'll ever play a better one.

RKS Score: 9/10

Top Five Neo Geo Shmups

I think it's fair to say that the Neo Geo is best known for the masses of fighting games available for it, as well as perhaps the splendid Metal Slug series, but it's also played host to some corking shooters. Like most games on the system, they're hardly the pinnacle of originality but it's tough to complain when the quality is so high! Here's the best five (in my opinion, of course!):

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. Viewpoint (1992)

I've actually got the PlayStation version of this splendid game which I'm told is far inferior to this Neo Geo original but, aside from slightly different graphics and a new soundtrack, I'm struggling to tell them apart. Both versions are isometrically-viewed blasters with the same enemies and stage layouts, and both are harder than ten angry Chuck Norris's, and it's this savage difficulty that prevents the otherwise original and addictive game from featuring higher on this list. Perhaps tellingly, the six stages aren't very long, but they're sure packed with some unique features and tough enemies, and should last a good while. The graphics are very polished and look lovely throughout while the soundtrack is fantastic. The Zaxxon-inspired viewpoint (no pun intended) takes a bit of getting used to, but play this for a few minutes and you'll soon find yourself hooked.

4. Last Resort (1992)

My good buddy Luke used to have this one for a short while (the CD version as I recall) so it's a game I was already fairly well acquainted with, and for such an early Neo Geo game it still holds up superbly well. The story is the usual 'computer virus taking over the world' type nonsense and that's not the only aspect of the game that's lacking in originality. It plays a lot like R-Type, particularly thanks to the inclusion of a drone which acts much like the R-9's 'force', and has also apparently been inspired by anime like Akira. What the game lacks in fresh ideas, however, it more than makes up for in quality. The presentation is fantastic and the moody graphics and music create a great atmosphere. It's another tough game for sure but it's aged well and remains as playable as the day it appeared.

3. Alpha Mission 2 (1991)

One of the first shooters released on the Neo Geo and one of the most underrated in my opinion. I'm a fan of its similarly-underrated predecessor (reviewed here) and this sequel continues the themes and style whilst adding a few new features of its own. There's millions of power-ups to collect again and the splendid armour-based weapons are even more satisfying to use here! The graphics are much improved as well, of course, and I really like the detail and colours SNK have used which suit the game splendidly. For some reason this game is looked down upon by the Neo Geo fanboys but I really don't know why. It looks and sounds nice, has loads to see and do, and is a game which rewards skill, and even a smidge of strategy, over manic, aimless button-mashing. One of my favourite vertical-scrollers!

2. Pulstar (1995)

If Last Resort is a game that's 'influenced' by R-Type, Pulstar is a game that downright rips it off! This is slightly more acceptable, however, considering some ex-Irem coders are apparently responsible for it, and what they've produced here is arguably even better than the game on which it was based. There's eight years between them of course, so it's a little unfair, but Pulstar is a game with a great reputation and a price-tag to match. The outstanding presentation features an anime intro and cut-scenes, a fantastic soundtrack, and the graphics are among the most gorgeous to be found on the Neo Geo - the pre-rendered backdrops are stunning, the bosses huge, and the sprites ultra-detailed, and as you may have guessed from its lofty position in this list, it doesn't play too badly either! It's a very tough game but by jove it's good!

1. Blazing Star (1998)

A bit of an opinion-divider, this one. As the sequel to Pulstar which was so worshipped by the Neo Geo elite, I suppose more of the same was expected, but even better. What the fans got was a quality shoot 'em up without question but rather different in style to its prequel, and it's one that I prefer, albeit marginally. For starters, there are six different ships to choose from here and each has different but big, loud, and flashy weapons. It's also a little easier than the rock-hard Pulstar, but the biggest difference is probably the graphics which are of a noticeably different style. Both games look lovely but the sprites here often have a CGI look to them and some of the pseudo-3D backdrops are absolutely stunning. The anime intro and cut-scenes return and the music is again fantastic too. There's even some Engrish! I can understand if some players prefer Pulstar but Blazing Star is for me one of the finest shmups I've played.

Film Review #32

One Day (2011)
Director: Lone Scherfig Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess, Tom Mison, Romola Garai, Patricia Clarkson, Rafe Spall, Ken Stott, Jodie Whittaker

Certificate: 12A Running Time: 108 Minutes

Tagline: "Twenty years. Two people."

After a sizeable break since my last visit to the cinema I was fully expecting to return this month, swiftly followed by a review of Captain America, a film I remain eager to see. However, circumstances have dictated that I have instead been to see this romantic drama with my wife. This kind of film often scares me but having seen a trailer for it beforehand it didn't look too bad. And I suppose Anne Hathaway's not too bad to look at either, is she? For the ladies there's Englishman, Jim Sturgess, and together or separately they share the vast majority of the screentime as Emma and Dexter whose story has been taken from the pages of the popular novel by David Nicholls (who also wrote the perfectly reasonable Starter For Ten). The film begins on July 15th 1988 (St. Swithin’s Day), the day of their graduation.

Seeing their respective best friends cop off with each other after their last day at Edinburgh University, the newly acquainted Emma and Dexter decide they may as well do the same. The film then catches up with the two of them, who have become close friends, every year on the same day for the next twenty years. Some years they're together, others not. Some years are eventful, others less so, with each having differing fortunes in their careers as well as their personal lives. They have a strong bond though, which is rarely tested and never broken. It's clear throughout that there are stronger feelings lurking just beneath the surface but it's less clear if either of them will ever do anything about it and, if they do, whether they'll have left it too late.

It's a reasonably interesting take on an often rather mundane genre and it's an example which is well acted. Some have a problem with Hathaway's English accent but it's okay for me. Her Emma is a slightly nerdish and lacking in the confidence to pursue her dreams while Sturgess's Dex is pretty much the opposite - a rather roguish ladies man who takes his initial success for granted. At times they seem to make a more convincing best friend couple than they do a romantic couple but they certainly have great chemistry in either case. Support comes in the form of Patricia Clarkson as Dex's ill mum and Ken Stott as his disapproving dad, while Em's side is represented by Rafe Spall who is superb as her failed comedian boyfriend, Ian.

Overall, I found One Day to be a nice enough, if unremarkable tale. It has some appealing characters who are flawed, like most people I guess, but who also remain likeable regardless. The script, adapted by Nicholls from his own book (which is probably why the story wasn't shifted across the Atlantic for once!) includes some witty dialogue and there's a good few memorable scenes, both of a humorous and poignant nature. As a film it doesn't carry the emotional heft of the book. This is often the case with adaptions I suppose, especially 'dramatic' ones, but both book and film unfortunately also suffer from one fairly sizeable flaw which ruined it for me somewhat. Worth a look though, particularly if you're a fan of either star.

RKS Score: 6/10