MSX Round-Up #3

I guess this makes me a bit of a weirdo, but one of the most memorable things about Golvellius for me was Randar, the awesome shopkeeper. This might seem to suggest that Golvellius sucks ass but it is a mighty splendid game, particularly the versions for the MSX2 and the mighty Master System. But in spite of its splendour, I still carry with me joyful memories of the cheerful blue fellow in addition to fond memories of the game itself. I guess I just like cute/amusing/weird characters in games!

As you've probably already seen for yourself, Randar is basically a blue sphere with rudimentary feet and a perpetually happy face. Well, I assume he's a sphere - I guess he could be a two-dimensional blue circle, but he is awesome nonetheless. He is friendly and helpful and his warm personality could brighten up the gloomiest day. He even speaks in a semi-medieval stylee! Such is my affection for this odd character, imagine my happiness, not to mention surprise, when I found out he had his own entire games! Three of them! Which he alone was the star of! Unfortunately, I also soon found that they're all RPGs of all things - a genre I admire but seldom play.

Memorable Bosses #4

Big Core MK I
Game: Gradius & some sequels

Big Core's first appearance on the PC Engine...

Of all the bosses found in the many shmups we've seen over the years, this fairly unremarkable craft is not one that leaps into your mind when thinking of memorable examples, I suspect. But there are two reasons why it does leap into mine. First of all, it was, to my knowledge, the first ever proper boss in the genre that soon came to be known as shoot 'em ups, so it has historical relevance. Secondly, its imminent arrival is heralded by one of my favourite game choons of all time! One might argue it's not really an appropriate composition for a boss battle of any kind, never mind such an important one. It's a short and simple track, as you might well expect from the era, and it sounds rather too jolly and upbeat to really suit the on-screen confrontation. You hear it almost every stage too, since the mighty Big Core is the boss on most of the stages (chortle!), but I don't care about any of that. It holds nostalgic value for me, particularly the excellent PC Engine version which is by far the one I've spent most time playing, but it is also genuinely a memorable boss regardless. The fact that it has reappeared in later Gradius games is testament to that. There have been far more impressive bosses over the years but Big Core Mk I still holds a special place in my gaming affections.

Memorable Bosses #3

The Freaky Flower
Game: Wiz 'n' Liz

The first two bosses I chose for this feature are legendary in the world of games but this example is memorable to much fewer gamers, perhaps only me. It is, as its name suggests, a freaky flower, perhaps a mutant sunflower or something, and is the first boss you encounter when playing the excellent Wiz 'n' Liz, assuming the options were left as default. It doesn't really do much if I'm honest - there are no explosive seeds or scything leaves or anything like that; It doesn't actually fire anything at you. All it does do really is swing its head back and forth and occasionally run across the screen using its uprooted... umm, roots I guess. Oh, and it also looks grumpy, possibly due to how easy it is to defeat (which is very). I'm not really sure why I remember it so well if I'm honest. Maybe it's simply because I played the game a lot and therefore 'fought' the orange menace, wiping his filth from the land many times. Maybe it's just because it's a giant sunflower. All I know is, for whatever reason, this cursed creature was one of the first to pop into my head when conceiving this series of posts.

Click here for a full review of Wiz 'n' Liz, Mega Drive version.

Retro Gaming Zoo #4

Humans are stupid. Animals are always better than stupid humans, everyone knows that, and it's something that's also true in the world of video games. A tremendous variety of weird and wonderful animals have starred in games over the years and here I'll be taking a closer look at some of them. Next up is:

Creature #4 - Alestes of Agony
Type of Creature? Owl  Realistic Portrayal? Kind of, yes

By the early-90s, animal characters were firmly established in the world of videogames, often taking the starring role, but most of these were found in platform or general action games. There had of course been a shoot 'em up example or two but they were few and far between. One, however, that pretty much everyone remembers, here in the UK at least, is Agony. Not only was it from Psygnosis in the days of their gorgeous, distinctive game artwork, but the animal it featured was also a glorious, majestic barn owl. Alestes, as it turned out (if you read the accompanying blurb) was a student wizard who had been transformed into a barn owl, but it mattered not to those who played it - we were in control of a beautifully-animated flapper, swooshing through moody locales and taking out horrifying beasties with his echolocation waves. Now, I can't say for sure how destructive real owl echolocation waves are, and I'm confident they can't be powered-up, but aside from that uncertainty (and the fact that he used to be a human), Alestes does appear to be not only a graceful game character, especially for a shoot em up, but also a pretty accurately-portrayed one.

Is His Game Any Good? Indeed it is. To be honest, it was always a game I expected to be more style than substance, and I suppose it is, but contrary to what is often the norm in those circumstances, it doesn't make it a bad game. Aside from its visuals, it didn't break any new ground, admittedly, but it was a cracking game for its time and is still very enjoyable now. Check the full review here.

Top Five Streets of Rage Characters

For many, the Streets of Rage name is synonymous with the very finest of scrolling fighting games, even eclipsing Final Fight, the game it was originally created to rival. One of the many great things about the series is its playable characters of whom there are six across the three official games in the series. That admittedly makes this Top Five somewhat pointless as only one of the characters will miss out, but as always it's just a bit of fun. The big question is, who's the loser?

5. Skate - Appeared in SOR2 & SOR3

This little pipsqueak debuted in the second game and is apparently kid brother to Adam from the original. Given his size and age, he would've been fast anyway, but he also has a pair of roller-blades so he is, by some margin, the fastest character in the game. The trade-off is power of course, but despite his speed making him effective nonetheless, he is still slightly unsatisfying to use. He has a nice breakdance-inspired special move though.

Retro Gaming Zoo #3

Humans are stupid. Animals are always better than stupid humans, everyone knows that, and it's something that's also true in the world of video games. A tremendous variety of weird and wonderful animals have starred in games over the years and here I'll be taking a closer look at some of them. Next up is:

Creature #3 - Rolo of Rolo to the Rescue
Type of Creature? Elephant  Realistic Portrayal? Yes

Most of my MegaDrive years were taken up by platformers and most of my favourites featured animals of some sort. This one was a challenge, not least because of its size and lack of save or password facility, but it was enormous fun anyway. One of the many reasons for this was the amusing animals contained therein, several of which you could control. Chief among them was Rolo, a brave trumpeter seeking to escape the oppression of circus life. He faced many dangers across the many, many stages that make up the game, but he mostly approached them as only an elephant could. He's not particularly athletic but he can use his trunk to suck stuff up or squirt it out, he can squash enemies beneath his substantial grey mass, and he is highly adaptable to a variety of potentially hostile surroundings. I'm not sure his perpetually-cheerful demeanour (or fondness for hats) is especially elephant-like but I think we can overlook that since he's such a kind-hearted tramper. It's just a shame this was the only time we saw him. Time for a Steam-based reboot?

Is His Game Any Good? Yes, it's spiffing! It was exclusive to the MegaDrive so those idiotic Nintendo and Amiga owners never got to sample its delights, despite the fact it was by the guys behind the James Pond series which appeared on many formats. It made owning an MD that bit sweeter though. You might even call it a hidden gem! Impressive considering how many rivals it had. Check the full review here.

 

Memorable Bosses #2

Aggar
Game: Altered Beast

Here's the towering oaf in his original arcade form...

Despite being fairly original in some ways, Sega's mythical scrolling punch/kick 'em up, Altered Beast, received a rather mixed reception upon its release. It looked pretty good, sounded okay and presented a reasonable challenge, but slightly sluggish controls and repetitive gameplay didn't give it much long-term appeal. It definitely had its good points though, with several aspects still fondly remembered today. The ability to transform (or indeed 'alter') into various 'beasts', for example, was undeniably cool, even if you didn't get to spend as long as you'd have liked rampaging about the place as a werewolf, weredragon, werebear, or weretiger, but another thing many gamers seem to remember most about the game was its bosses. Most of these were large and came in varying degrees of grossness such as the gloopy Oct-Eyes or stinky Moldy Snail, but it was undoubtedly the first of them that everyone remembers the most.

Memorable Bosses #1

Dobkeratops
Games: R-Type Series

The first appearance of the fearsome creature...

I don't usually place the greatest emphasis on bosses in my reviews but, while they may only be small parts of much larger games, many stay with us much longer than the stages they block exit from, so I thought it might make a spiffing new series of posts to take a look at some of them in more detail. Many horrifying abominations were considered but what better place to start than with arguably the most famous and memorable boss of them all, certainly from the vast world of shoot 'em ups - the ghastly Dobkeratops. Some won't know his name but pretty much everyone who played video games in the mid-to-late 80's will know him by appearance. His likeness did after all adorn pretty much all adverts, flyers, and cover art for the ultra-popular shooter, so it would've been hard not to!

Retro Gaming Zoo #2

Humans are stupid. Animals are always better than stupid humans, everyone knows that, and it's something that's also true in the world of video games. A tremendous variety of weird and wonderful animals have starred in games over the years and here I'll be taking a closer look at some of them. Next up is:

Creature #2 - Flicky of Flicky
Type of Creature? Bird  Realistic Portrayal? Yes

After the recent tomfoolery with a certain chat/film group to which he lends his name, I figured it was a good time to take a closer look at Flicky, the plucky blue avian star of Sega's 1984 arcade game and subsequent conversions. He is very bird-like too, which is surprising for the day. He can run around and has a decent flappy-assisted jump, both are which are invaluable for collecting the helpless little 'Chirps' around the short looping stages and avoiding the hungry cats that also scamper about the place, and that is about the extent of his ambitions too. He's just doing what any responsible squawker would do. I'm not sure how realistic the actual stages are since later ones seem to take place in space, and I'm not sure how adept any bird would be at holding a net to catch catapulted Chirps either, but as a character Flicky is definitely very realistic for video game standards. Happily we got to see his likeness again along with many of his colourful brethren, and on their apparent home turf too, in Sonic 3D: Flickies Island, but nothing since then. Come back Flicky/Flickies! :)

Is His Game Any Good? Yes, it's mighty good! The most celebrated version is that found on Sega's own MegaDrive which was actually slightly superior to the arcade original (although in fairness, it was released some seven years later!) but I have yet to play a version of Flicky that isn't tremendous fun. Check the full review here.

 

Retro Gaming Zoo #1

Humans are stupid. Animals are always better than stupid humans, everyone knows that, and it's something that's also true in the world of video games. A tremendous variety of weird and wonderful animals have starred in games over the years and here I'll be taking a closer look at some of them. First up is:

Creature #1 - Leon of Circus Lido
Type of Creature? Chameleon  Realistic Portrayal? Yes

An unusual choice for the first post of this feature? Yes, I guess Leon isn't the best known character around but for some reason he was the first one I thought of. He only featured in one game that I know of which is a platform/puzzle game. His abilities are few (he can't even jump, for example) but those he does have are very faithful to his lizardy origins. They include a curly prehensile tail that allows him to climb up certain types of platforms and a long sticky tongue he uses to capture (though not eat) all the pesky insects that inhabit the game's many single-screen stages. He doesn't talk and nor is he on some human-like quest for revenge or justice as far as I can tell. He seems to simply be struggling to survive in the hazardous environment he calls home. In other words, Circus Lido is a rare case of an animal-based game which is actually reasonably realistic! Well, for video game standards at least...

Is His Game Any Good? Undecided. The premise is good, it's enjoyable to play, and addictive, but it gets too hard too quickly for my tastes. Definitely unique and worth checking out though. For more details of Circus Lido, check the full review here.

 

Norris Fighter!

I've never really been the biggest fan of fighting games but one series I have always liked is that of Capcom's mighty Street Fighter. Something else I like is Chuck Norris, or more accurately, his hugely exaggerated powers and the resultant feats that are attributed to him (such as those detailed on the highly amusing Chuck Norris Facts website), so the prospect of a video showing the latter as a playable character in Street Fighter II was an intriguing one to say the least. I don't normally post things like this but it really tickled me, so for your viewing pleasure:


 

Top Five Psycho Fox Characters

Nintendo fan-boys can keep their infernal plumber and puffy pink pillow; one of the finest 8-bit platformers in my opinion has always been Vic Tokai's fantastic multi-animal adventure, Psycho Fox. Its graphics and music are among the mighty Master System's finest and the stages are full of appealing features and alternate routes giving it fantastic replay value. One reason I like it so much, though, is the ability to switch between different animals with their own specialities. Some are more useful than others but all add something to the game and help make it one of the most enjoyable platformers I've played. Here are the characters in order of usefulness:

5 - Hippo

This portly fellow is probably the most amusing of the selectable characters (and the happiest - look at that broad smile!) but he's also the one you're almost certain to use the least. He's the only one who can punch down walls but you won't encounter them very often and even when you do there's usually an alternate route. Other than that talent, he's much slower than the other characters, making him near useless on stage three, and his jumping ability is pretty woeful too. The fat one you like more because of his warm personality than what he brings to the team...

Top Five Street Fighter Characters

While it's certainly not a genre I dislike, one-on-one fighting games have never really been my favourite genre either. Many of my preferred examples, however, are made by Capcom and feature the words 'Street Fighter' somewhere in the title. It's a series I first encountered in its very earliest form - the original Street Fighter in the arcades, and the version with the big puffy pressure-sensitive buttons too! I've since played most other games in the series (though not the fourth game... yet) and have enjoyed them all. Well, except for Street Fighter: The Movie, obviously.

Obviously the games are all very well made, catering for novice and expert players alike, but I think one of the most appealing things about the series is the variety of characters. There are few I really dislike but those below are the ones I've spent most time playing as. That just leaves the question: who is your favourite?

5... Sakura

Cynics might suggest that this energetic young lady was introduced to the series purely for fanservice reasons, being a schoolgirl with a very short skirt and all, and perhaps they're right, but she quickly became a fan favourite anyway. She debuted in Street Fighter Alpha 2 as a squawking teenager, having been inspired by Ryu's victory in the first World Warrior tournament. She therefore plays a little like him, having her own less powerful variations of some of his moves, but she's much more nimble. She might flash her panties now and then as she leaps all over the place but she'll have you for lunch if you get caught gawping!