Top Five Psygnosis Arts

I have many happy memories of the various computer and/or game magazines I grew up reading but one of a handful of memories that stands out the most are those of the truly wonderful Psygnosis advertisements that adorned said magazines. They were most prevalent from the late 80s to early 90s and they were so eye-catching that to this day I still remember most of them while knowing little about the actual games they were advertising! This is mainly because most of them were for the Amiga and Atari ST which I didn't have, but I will remedy this in a series of posts in near (ish) future. In the meantime, here's a pick of some of the finest examples of their adverts from those glorious days. A gallery of them all will follow.

5. Barbarian (1987)

No, not that violent Barbarian game with Wolf and Maria Whittaker in the advert, although that was also memorable for different reasons (chortle!). The artwork for this Barbarian was, like many Psygnosis games, the work of talented British artist Roger Dean and, slightly oddly, places the warrior of the title only in the title logo thingy rather than in the actual scenario depicted in the art. The only creature there is a red dinosaur-type beastie which, as far as I know, doesn't feature in the game at any stage, but it's certainly a distinctive piece all the same. The game itself is a stabby platform adventure which casts the player in the expected role, but it has aged much less favourably than its lovely artwork thanks to some slow, sluggish gameplay that isn't helped by a 'unique', somewhat cumbersome control method. Look but don't touch!

Retro News - Free Dreamcast Book!

I don't write about the Dreamcast here nearly as much as I should. It's mainly a time issue - its games will generally take much longer to play and write reviews for - but it's still a bit of a travesty considering how splendid the system is, and how important it is to me too. I do try to keep up with news from within the lively DC community though, and recently I heard a splendid example.

As you may have already noticed by the interceding picture here, the DC community hasn't just been burbling on about their favourite console and its many fine games. They have gone to the effort of making an entire book listing them all, and the best part is - it's completely free to download and keep! This will be of particular interest to hardcore DC fans too, as it's an amazingly comprehensive tome. Every single game ever released for the console is contained within including indie titles released after the console's supposed demise, and all entries have an overview of the game as well as detailed release info including any regional variants or alternate names, etc.

They Might Be Giants - Chiptuned!

Most things I post here at Red Parsley will only be of interest to a small number of people, but even with that in mind the subject of this particular post really will be of limited appeal. For the tiny core of people with the right combination of interests, however, it will be a truly wondrous post worthy of wine, women and song!

Before we get to that, let me just say, I've been a fan of They Might Be Giants for many years now - nearly 30 years in fact, ever since an old friend made me a tape of their first two albums back in our school days (don't worry - I bought the originals soon afterwards) - and they've pretty much been my favourite band ever since.

Yes, I know in more recent years they've made several educational albums for the kiddies, but their 'proper' albums are still among the few music albums I actually look forward to the release of these days (for yes indeed, they are still going strong). One of their most popular albums remains Flood released in 1990 which contains 'Birdhouse in your Soul', still probably their best known song.

Streets of Rage: The Movie!

As we all know very well by now, the Streets of Rage games are unquestionably the finest such examples of their genre as can be found in the splendid world of retro. The first game blew the socks off us MegaDrive owners when it arrived in a flurry of punches and kicks back in 1991 and the sequel which arrived only a little over a year later was, quite frankly, astonishing. Not only had Sega managed to better their already-superb original but in so doing had pretty much perfected the genre in what is still regarded as one of the greatest games ever made.

The third game, perhaps inevitably, couldn't quite live up to these lofty standards but it was still a corking brawler. Sadly, it would also prove to be the final entry in the short-lived series which has gone on to become one of the most revered and best-loved game trilogies of all time. Pretty much any gamers around during the time of their releases will speak excitedly about them but some fans have taken their passion for the games to new heights by creating their own live-action tributes!

I could scarcely believe my eyes when I first stumbled upon one of them, probably while looking for a SOR soundtrack to listen to at work. Instead I found the video below which is, for all intents and purposes, Streets of Rage: The Movie! It features just Axel at first but he is soon joined by Adam then Blaze as they run around various locations in what is presumably their home city duffing in various friends posing as hoodlums and bosses from the SOR games, and the results are truly wonderful for any fans of the games. These aren't just a bunch of idiots trying to become the next internet sensation; they are clearly huge fans of the games themselves and it shows.

Top Five Bob Wakelin Arts

If you grew up in the 80's here in the UK and were the proud owner of an 8 or 16-bit home computer, there's an excellent chance your eyes regularly glanced upon the splendid artwork of Bob Wakelin, even if you didn't know it at the time. His work was most often found in the form of adverts and cover-art for many of Ocean Software's releases and was among the most iconic and recognisable around.

As many of you may well have heard by now, Bob sadly passed away recently after a long illness. I didn't know him personally but many did as he was active in and very popular with the retro gaming community, and was regularly seen at various retro events. He leaves behind many happy memories for some of us but even those who didn't know him can still appreciate his wonderful artwork which must've surely helped shift a fair few copies of the games it adorned all by itself.

His style was varied and could be found in most games magazines from the mid-to-late 80's as well as on store shelves all over the country and beyond. I love most of his work but, while everyone will have their own favorites, these are in my view his finest efforts which lit up my early gaming years. Rest in peace, Bob...

5. Where Time Stood Still (1988)

This game was notable for being one of the very few 128K-only games for the Speccy which was, to my great pleasure at the time, deemed to be the only 8-bit system that could even manage a version of the game at all. Something else the game was famous for, though, and not just the Speccy version this time, was the splendid artwork that adorned its various covers and magazine adverts. The cynical among you might highlight the flimsily-clothed hottie who stands (almost) centre stage as being the reason for that but the rest of it was fantastic too - the heroic pilot stood next to the blonde stunner, his crashed plane, the scary dinosaurs and angry natives, and that large bold title seemingly carved from ancient rock collectively did an amazing job setting the stage for this epic and memorable adventure.

Even More Speccy Loading Screens!

Jeepers, just when I thought I'd finished posting selections of my favourite Speccy loading screens (see the last of the five parts here), I discover yet more evidence of the awesomeness of the retro community. This latest selection of images, you see, were all created by talented Speccy fans and posted over at the 'ZX Art' page.

I've only just discovered this superb site but it's chock-full of fantastic examples of Speccy artwork. The ones I've posted here are just a random selection of ones that caught my eye and as you can probably tell, most of them are made in the style of loading screens. Some are even 'remakes' of existing loading screens.

If you've perused these gorgeous images and like what you see, I strongly urge you to visit the ZX Art site and take a look at some of the other great work there. And just for the record, I didn't make any of these myself - the name of each artist is in brackets in the filename of each image - full credit goes to them...

From the Neo Geo Pocket to Your Actual Pocket!

I have little doubt that many of you will have heard of SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters Clash for the Neo Geo Pocket Color. It was one of the fab system's more notable releases and had a small but passionate community of enthusiastic players. Some of you may have even been among them! And now, splendidly, you don't even need to be an owner of SNK's little box of tricks to play it. Ooooo.

No, I'm not talking about emulation either. Something wholly more remarkable has been afoot here, and it's all down to one fan of the original game, Andrew Thorson, who has taken it upon himself to turn Card Fighters Clash into an actual card game with real, physical cards! I should probably talk a little about the game itself before I go any further, however, for the benefit of the uninitiated.

All versions of the game, which includes the NGPC original (of which there were two versions - SNK and Capcom editions), a new NGPC 'expand' edition, updated versions for Nintendo's DS, and now this physical version, are all collectible card strategy battle type games.

The many cards feature characters from both SNK and Capcom's respective gaming universes who are pitted against each other, but using their unique stats and special properties as displayed on the cards rather than resorting to fists and frooming fiery projectiles and all that other dangerous physical (and ungentlemanly) stuff. The only question was: where did your loyalties lie? With SNK or with Capcom?

Sega Super Scaler Games #4

OutRun (1986)
By: Sega Genre: Driving Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 11,640,950
Also Available For: Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 2, Saturn, MegaDrive, Master System, PC Engine, Game Gear, Amiga, Atari ST, PC, MSX, MSX 2, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum (full releases), Dreamcast, Xbox, Game Boy Advance (as in-game bonus or on compilation)
Download For: Mobile

I've already featured OutRun here at Red Parsley a few times - how could I not? It's correctly regarded as an all-time great and one of gaming's most important titles, but it's also a game that's always been very important to me personally as well. As I detailed way back in one of my first ever posts here, it's basically the game that's single-handedly responsible for my love of gaming, and one that's accordingly remained close to the top of my favourites list ever since. I'm sure many others have as much affection for Yu Suzuki's classic as I do - it was such an amazing game for its time it can't have failed to captivate countless others who encountered it - but is the enduring adulation it receives based purely on nostalgia these days, or is it still as enjoyable to play as it always was?

Retro News - Sonic X-Treme... At Last?

I can’t really speak for any of my overseas friends but Sega’s poor old Saturn had a torrid time here in the UK. Among the many reasons given for its relative failure was the lack of a proper Sonic game. Sega’s hyperactive spiker had, after all, been a big factor in the success of the Mega Drive, and most Sega fans, some still reeling from the disappointment of the 32X, were expecting not only an amazing new console but also an amazing new game starring their hero. It did not arrive but, as many gamers know all too well, one was in development, and it looked pretty good.

Poor quality but shows the famous fisheye lens effect...

Sadly, after being besieged by all manner of problems, both technical and personnel-related, during the course of its (more than) two year development time, Sonic X-Treme was cancelled. Instead, us poor old Saturn owners had to make do with Sonic 3D Blast, a conversion of an isometric Mega Drive game, Sonic Jam, a compilation of Sonic's other MD adventures accessed via a rather limited 3D 'Sonic World' area, and Sonic R, a racing game starring our nippy blue hero along with a few of his friends. All three games were okay but definitely not what we were promised nor expecting. Over the intervening years, snippets of information and a few grainy screenshots from the failed project emerged which only compounded our frustration - it actually looked like it could've been really good! God damn Sega and the chaotic mess that followed their most successful period...

Retro News... Internet Arcade!

For a while now I've been toying with the idea of posting odd bit and pieces of retro-gaming-related news but, since I don't often participate in many related groups or forums or attend too many community events (I'm a bit of a loner I guess!), I don't really find out about most things until after everyone else. Boo hoo! :(

I was fortunate enough fairly recently, however, to unexpectedly stumble upon some absolutely fantastic retro gaming news. Perhaps everyone else already knows about this too, but it's so splendid I'm going to warble away about it anyway. The amazing non-profit Internet Archive site already had stacks of texts, books, art, videos, films, music, and all sorts of other stuff freely available to view/use, and now they have made some rather awesome additions to their sizeable vaults. The first is known as the 'Internet Arcade' and is a collection of hundreds of classic arcade games from the 70's, 80's and 90's (though mostly the early 80's) which are all fully playable via JSMAME emulation from your web browser!

Arcade Adventures #5

Treasure Adventure Game (2011)
By: Robit Studios Genre: Arcade Adventure Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: PC
Also Available For: Nothing

The prospect of free video games is certainly an enticing one (as long as they don't suck arse) but, without sinking to the thoroughly reprehensible depths of piracy, it's not one that ever reared its head too often back in the 'golden age'. In my Speccy days we used to get an occasional freebie, usually by way of a magazine cover-mounted cassette, but that was about it. These days it's somewhat more common, what with so many indie developers trying to make a name for themselves, but even so - free stuff of any kind usually carries with it some conditions (intrusive adverts, mandatory downloads of crappy toolbars and stuff) as well as a certain level of expectation... or lack thereof. It was therefore with much apprehension that I installed and started Treasure Adventure Game which, as you may have guessed by now, is one such freebie.

Arcade Shmups #20

R-Type (1987)
By: Irem Corp Genre: Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Hard
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 159,200
Also Available For: PC Engine, PC Engine CD, X68000, Game Boy, Master System, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MSX, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum
Download For: Xbox Live Arcade, Android, iOS

It may not seem like it but this is a rather special shmup review today. For those readers who haven't been keeping track (probably all of you), this is not only the 100th arcade review here at Red Parsley but it's also the 100th shmup review too. At the same time! Amazing, huh? And what better game to mark such a momentous occasion than arguably the most celebrated example of all time?! However, a legend it may be, but it's also a game I haven't played nearly enough. I had it for my Speccy and Master System (probably still have, actually) and both were superb conversions, but by far most of my R-Type gaming has come courtesy of Super R-Type on the SNES which, as you may know, features more of R-Type 2 than the first game. So, the motivation behind this review, other than featuring a game worthy of such a landmark, is to finally, belatedly dissect the original arcade version that so wowed gamers back in the mid-80's. Bydo Empire, prepare to be smacked upside the head!

Star Control - Part 6

Most of my gaming friends are well aware of my appreciation of the Star Control series but I actually discovered it completely by accident. My dad, you see, went through a brief phase of MegaDrive gaming and he discovered a store which I didn’t even know existed. On one of his trips there he picked up a handful of games – some were ones I knew of well, but the one that I’d barely heard of soon turned out to be my favourite of his selection – Star Control.

The strategy game wasn't too popular - but I loved it!

Full details of the actual game can be found in the rather sizeable review I wrote many moons ago but suffice to say, it was a game that had a lasting impact on me. It wasn't just the game either; the main strategy section of the game was enjoyable as well as the more exciting overhead combat, both of which were even better with two-players, but I think it was the attention to detail which impressed me the most. The unique names, look, and spacecraft of all the alien races involved were well thought out and the story, while hardly original in this early form, was quite intriguing too. It revolved around the powerful Hierarchy - a group of subservient races commanded by the apparently evil Ur-Quan, and the Alliance of Free Stars - a hastily assembled group of races opposing the Ur-Quan's murderous goal of enslaving all the sentient races in the known galaxy.

Anime #2 - Revolutionary Girl Utena

When I first started watching anime it wasn't particularly popular here in the UK, to my knowledge at least, so rather than reading the non-existent articles and reviews in magazines, I had to more or less choose them randomly and hope for the best, and this is exactly how I discovered Revolutionary Girl Utena.

Part of the appeal of RGU was admittedly the suggestive nature of some of the associated artwork (tee hee!) but it's actually a considerably darker show than it might initially appear and has a rather complicated storyline that requires more than one viewing to even understand, at least for dimwits like me. The star of the show is unsurprisingly the girl of the title, Utena, who is indeed revolutionary, or supposedly so anyway. She is a pupil at Ohtori Academy, a fictional Japanese high-school, where she is an unusual student. She lost her parents at an early age and was consoled by a mysterious price who left such an impression on her that she decided to become a prince herself which resulted in her unique dress sense and mannerisms. While some pupils and teachers at the school find her a bit strange, most of the girls idolise her. As well as wearing what is described in the show as a boys uniform (although no one else in the school dresses like her, boys or girls), she attempts to conduct herself in as honest, gallant, and noble a way as possible, and it is in pursuit of this that she inadvertently lands herself in trouble.

Music #3 - Pete Droge

As was the case with Dressy Bessy in my last music piece, it was also movies that introduced me to Mr. Droge. It was 1995 and the film in question is slightly less embarrassing than the rather girlie film that introduced me to Denver's finest. This time it was while watching the highly amusing Dumb and Dumber, starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels as the buffoons of the title, that I first heard the catchy melodies of 'If You Don't Love Me (I'll Kill Myself)', the tongue-in-cheek song that accompanies Harry's (Daniels) attempts to steal Lloyd's (Carrey) unrequited love, Mary!

Almost as soon as the movie was over I was trying to find out who the song was by but, what with this being the days before the internet (at least for me), it wasn't as easy as you might think! I did find out in the end though, with the help of Metal Hammer magazine as I recall, and thus my Pete Droge fandom had begun. Born in 1969 and growing up in Seattle, Pete had the unfortunate distinction of sharing his fledgling musical years with the rise of Seattle's grunge scene, and specifically that of Nirvana. Not all the bad luck was on his side though as he also became friends with a certain Mike McCready who would go on to find fame as Pearl Jam's guitarist. Around the time his friend's band were hitting the big time, Pete had his own band, Ramadillo. They did not share the suddenly popular sound that music fans were flocking to Seattle to hear though, so sadly they didn't achieve much success. However, through his continuing friendship with McCready, he got his lucky break soon after relocating to Portland. Pete's friend passed a recording of some of his solo songs to Pearl Jam's producer, Brendan O'Brien, who was so impressed he helped Pete get his first major record deal.

F-Zero Series - Part 3

F-Zero X (1998)
By: Nintendo EAD  Genre: Racing  Players: 1-4  Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo 64
Also Available For: Nothing
Download For: Wii Virtual Console

Despite being a highly accomplished racing game, the original F-Zero was perhaps most highly regarded for its admittedly impressive technical prowess. When news of a full sequel (F-Zero 2 was more like a 'data-disk') on Nintendo's brand spanking new 64-bit powerhouse emerged, mouths began to salivate at the prospect of what wonders might befall gamers. However, when it finally arrived it wasn't as instantly mind-blowing as many gamers were expecting. After the bar-raising the original did, a similar advancement was expected here, but the graphical detail was actually notably inferior to most of the other N64 games that had been doing the rounds, nevermind markedly better. This was apparently done on purpose by Nintendo so they could achieve a constant silky-smooth frame-rate of sixty frames per second. Their decision wasn't met with much enthusiasm at first though. Was it worth the risk?

Film Review #14

The Station Agent (2003)
Director: Tom McCarthy Starring: Peter Dinklage, Bobby Cannavale, Patricia Clarkson, Michelle Williams, Raven Goodwin, Paul Benjamin, Jayce Bartok, John Slattery

Certificate: 15 Running Time: 89 Minutes

Tagline: "Loneliness is much better when you have got someone to share it with"

Every now and then I discover a film, usually by accident, that just speaks to me. These films generally turn out to be indies, usually feature lesser-known or even unknown actors, and they are often the kind of films where nothing much actually happens. The Station Agent is one of these films, and one of the main reasons I wanted to start writing reviews of films. I think this is mainly because I’ve never met anyone else who’s even heard of it, nevermind seen it - I wanted more people to know about it, to appreciate it, to love it the way I do. But at the same time the prospect of reviewing it made me nervous. What if everyone who read my review hated it? I don't want anyone to dislike this film, I feel protective of it! However, now that I'm approaching my 100th post here at Red Parsley, and having watched the film for the umpteenth time recently, I thought it was time to finally try to give it the review it deserves.

Single Screen Platform Games #2

Bubble Bobble (1986)
By: Taito Genre: Platform Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Arcade  First Day Score: 180,180
Also Available For: Master System, Game Gear, Saturn, PlayStation, X68000, NES, GameBoy Color, GameBoy Advance, Nintendo DS, FM Towns Marty, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Apple II, MSX, PC

What more can be said about this all-time great? Whilst perhaps not as well known as Mario or Sonic, the cute dinosaurs of Bubble Bobble are just as iconic to many gamers, myself included, and have now appeared in a lot of games on nearly every system ever created, in one guise or another. My first encounter with the bubble-blowing twins was in 'Kwiki Meals', the cafe near my college. It was here that I ventured every lunchtime to play Bubble Bobble (and eat a burger), and I was often late back to class! It was the game that first brought the great Taito to my attention and they've been one of my favourite companies since. Sadly, both Kwiki Meals and the arcade masterpiece it once housed are now long gone but I've had a regular fix of Bubble Bobble ever since.

Music #2 - Dressy Bessy

Aside from the false start prompted by the accidental discovery of a song I liked, welcome to my music section proper! Here I will pay tribute to bands/singers that I like, and in the instances where they are not particularly well know, hopefully increase their exposure a little too! The first recipient of this honour is one I discovered under somewhat dubious circumstances...

It was a good few years ago now that I accidentally discovered the amusing comedy film, But I'm A Cheerleader. It's an unusual but funny film which I may cover in more detail here at a later date. However, among its more notable points is the fantastic soundtrack it features. I liked a lot of its songs, but two in particular stuck with me. After a bit of investigation I discovered the band responsible.

Original lineup, from L-R: Rob, Darren, Tammy, John

Hailing from Denver, Colorado, the curiously-named Dressy Bessy are an indie-pop/rock four-piece originally formed in 1996 by lead vocalist and guitarist, Tammy Ealom, bassist, Rob Greene, and drummer, Darren Albert, and before long they were joined by second guitarist and childhood friend of Rob's, John Hill. Around a year later and they had already released their first single, 'Ultra Vivid Color', produced by John prior to joining the band. The next couple of years, along with no doubt lots of touring, saw two more singles - 'You Stand Here' and 'Sunny'. Soon after that came their first full length album. It was called 'Pink Hearts Yellow Moons' and it was from this catchy CD that the songs 'Just Like Henry' and 'If You Should Try To Kiss Her' were taken for the aforementioned But I'm A Cheerleader soundtrack.

Gaming Memories - Part 1

It was on a family holiday that videogames first got their hooks into me. Sure, they were around before that, and I was vaguely aware of them, even 'dabbling' on occasion, such as when I played the table-top classic, Astro Wars, for practically the whole weekend I stayed over at my cousin's house, for example, or when I played Frostbite on a school friend's Atari VCS after school now and then. At that point though, they were never anything more than a passing distraction.

That aforementioned holiday was pretty much my first vacation and would see us visit the land of my forebears. Namely, the Torbay area of Devon, and we would stay in a rented cottage. I was around 11 or 12 at the time and was very excited about my first trip away. It sounded fantastic, even if it would be occurring in the school summer holidays, thereby failing to ensure that I'd miss any schooltime! For those who don't know, Torbay is a beautiful area on the south coast of England in the county of Devonshire coast known as the 'English Riviera'. It enjoys a mild climate and is home to a sizeable marina, some nice sandy beaches, and three lovely resort towns - Torquay, Paignton, and Brixham - which collectively feature a whole host of sights and attractions of magnificent splendour. I, however, ultimately saw very little of all this after I first wandered past an amusement arcade.