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...

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.

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!

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.

Cover Art: Master System - Part 1

I've always found it intriguing how dramatically cover art can vary from one territory to another, but in this new Red Parsley feature, I will take a look at a few comparisons. Can you guess which console I'm going start with?

Yes, that's right, the good old Master System! Some of you may have noticed that I feature Sega's fledgling console quite a bit here at Red Parsley. This is mainly because of my affection for it, being the first console I owned and all, but it's also a great little machine generally and I'm very happy to have tempted a few readers into giving it a go.

One thing the system was known for here in the UK, however, was the poor quality of its cover art, but until recently I've know very little about the Japanese version of the system, the Sega Mark III. Having done a bit of research recently it seems that, as is often the case, the Japanese versions of many of my Master System favourites received very different cover art to the versions I had...


Fantasy Zone: The Maze / Opa Opa (1987)
One of my favourite two-player games on the MS is one that actually had reasonable UK cover art as well. It demonstrates most aspects of the gameplay well enough, perhaps better than the Japanese cover which could see players mistake it for a platform game! The latter still looks better though and, importantly, shows the second player as well!

Awesome Nature #1

Golden Lion Tamarin
Type: Monkey  Lives In: Brazil  Conservation Status: Endangered

This distinctively-looking marmoset has long been a popular attraction at zoos and was always one of my favourites when I regularly visited Marwell Zoological Park when I was younger. In the wild they live only in the few tiny areas of Atlantic coastal forests that remain around the Rio de Janeiro region of Brazil. They are perfectly suited to this very specific kind of environment but since only 2% of their original habitat is remaining, they are now sadly at risk of extinction in the wild. They are typically around a foot long (30cm), not including their long tail, and spend most of their lives in trees where they live amongst thick vines which provide protection from the snakes, cats, and birds of prey who will kill them if they get the chance. They live in small groups and mostly dine on insects and fruit. Destruction of their habitat is also seeing numbers of this striking monkey fall and there are now only around 1500 left in the world.

Why They Are Awesome: Nearly all monkeys are awesome by default but just look at them!
 

Overhead Run 'n' Gun Games #3

The Ninja (1986)
By: Sega  Genre: Run 'n' Gun  Players: 1-2   Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Sega Master System  First Day Score: 78,900
Also Available For: Arcade, SG-1000

Ninjas are awesome, everyone knows that. The late 80's to early 90's saw their popularity in my part of the world peak and this naturally translated to the videogames market perfectly. There were many games based on their exploits released but most of these were side-viewed run 'n' gun style games. One of Sega's earliest offerings did things a little differently. It was similar in style to Capcom's Commando, which was released around the same time, but replaced the various soldiers with ninjas and other Japanese warriors, and like Commando was first released in the arcades. At this point the game was known as Sega Ninja but in Japan it went by the slightly more appealing name of Ninja Princess.

Random Game I've Never Heard Of #2

Obitus (1993)
By: Psygnosis  Genre: RPG  Players: 1-2  Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo SNES
Also Available For: Amiga, Atari ST, PC

Right or wrong, certain systems are often known for one genre of game more than any other. You could say the SNES was most associated with Mode 7 or SuperFX games but for me it was RPG's. The MegaDrive had a few good ones but it couldn't compete with games like Terranigma, Secret of Mana, Breath of Fire, the Final Fantasy series, and of course A Link to the Past. If I know this, Psygnosis must've known it too, so they must've either been feeling brave or very confident to release this game on Nintendo's machine. At first glance it looks and feels more like an Amiga game so it's no surprise to find that it was originally! That's not necessarily a bad thing of course - the Amiga is home to some fantastic RPG's but are any of them really suited to what was at the time the flashiest console yet seen?

Top Five Tough Chicks

It takes a special kind of actress to convincingly pull off the role of a 'tough-chick'. Some, such as Michelle Rodriguez (one of my favourite actresses), are almost exclusively cast in such roles, and whilst it's clear she could beat the living crap out of any woman, and probably most men too, she doesn't actually do a great deal of arse-kicking in her films (not even in Girlfight). Others, such as Sigourney Weaver, particularly in her Ripley guise, prove themselves to be more than the helpless girly they initially appear and can rise to the occasion when needed.

However, the kind of female heroine that can not only take care of themselves but also lay waste to scores of bad guys whilst still looking good? That takes a special talent which goes beyond merely learning a martial art, sword-handling, or gun-play. They have to be good actresses, of course, but it's also an attitude or aura they project. You just know, even if they're only talking, that they could take out an entire room of sneering, gun-wielding goons in the blink of an eye and then continue chatting away as if nothing had happened. Some actresses look ridiculous trying to act tough, but for others it comes naturally. Here's my personal Top Five toughest:

Possible Spoiler Alert: this feature obviously assumes that you've seen the films in question so don't come whining to me if they ruin a film that you haven't seen yet!

5 - Trinity

The only lady on the list whose repertoire doesn't include a blade of some description, Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) makes up for it by being more than proficient at pretty much everything else! Okay, she has the rather sizeable advantage of being able to upload new skills and combat techniques directly into her brain almost instantly which is probably the only reason she's not higher on the list. That's far from the only thing that makes her a genuine tough chick though. She's an efficient and very creative arse-kicker and I can't see anyone but Morpheus or Neo standing toe-to-toe with her for more than a second, but all that aside, she'd be worth including simply for "Dodge This!"...

PC Engine Shmups #4

P-47 the Freedom Fighter (1989)
By: Jaleco / Aicom Corporation  Genre: Shooting  Players: 1  Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16  First Day Score: 197,200
Also Available For: Arcade, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum

Whilst undoubtedly being a source of untold horror and sadness for a majority of the participants and their loved ones, the two World Wars (so far) have provided more than ample opportunities for video games, and specifically ones where you are charged with shooting stuff. Nowadays, of course, these are invariably realistic and complex First-Person Shooters with lots of intricate, 'proper' missions, squads to command, etc, but in the days of yore they were more often far simpler vehicular-based shmups. A majority of these were vertically scrolling ones such as Capcom's superb 194x series but P-47 is one of the few side-viewed offerings. Placing you in control of one of the USAAF's famed P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bombers, the object, predictably enough, is to single-handedly take down the German army and air force over Europe during World War Two. Sounds like a piece of cake...

Crap Games #2

Jinmu Denshou Yaksa (1989)
By: Big Club / Wolf Team  Genre: Shooting  Players: 1  Difficulty: Hard
Featured Version: PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16  First Day Score: 3,500
Also Available For: Nothing

Any Space Harrier fans here? Good. Now, imagine playing that great game but without the benefit of the invisible jetpack. Sound good? I'd have to agree with you if you're sceptical but that's exactly what we've got here from Big Club / Wolf Team. Yaksa, as I knew the game until now, is apparently a little-known game which I remember reading a scathing review of in C&VG magazine back when Mean Machines was just a humble little section in the back of the mag, and it's another one I've often wondered about. It's comparisons to Sega's mid-80's classic are understandable. Both games place you in control of a lonesome fellow who must advance into the screen, faux-3D stylee, and take out hordes of attacking enemies. The main difference between the games is the setting.

Scrolling Fighting Games #4

Dynamite Dux (1988)
By: Sega  Genre: Fighting  Players: 1-2   Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Arcade  First Day Score: 26,940
Also Available For: Master System, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum

No matter when fighting games are set, whether past, present, or future, they're nearly always serious affairs, if not always necessarily realistic. There's usually some sort of personal revenge involved and someone typically needs rescuing too, more often than not a damsel in distress who has become an unwitting pawn in the schemes of a dastardly maniacal tyrant, evil crime boss, or something equally heinous. A wide variety of muscle-bound male and sexy female heroes have come and gone but what of that cute and nonsensical 'crazy Japanese' style of game that has graced so many other genres? Shoot 'em ups, platformers, racing games, RPG's, even sports games are catered for, but this unique and amusing style seems to have given this particular genre a wide berth. Or has it?

Arcade Shmups #6

Slap Fight a.k.a. Alcon (1986)
By: Toaplan / Taito  Genre: Shooting  Players: 1  Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Arcade  First Day Score: 74,960 (one credit)
Also Available For: MegaDrive, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum

You could at first be forgiven for thinking that this early Toaplan release was a fighting game or perhaps something rather more bizarre, given its rather strange name, but it's actually an almost totally un-weird game! As I'm sure most of you now know, Slap Fight is actually a shoot 'em up, much like most of Toaplan's releases. This one is a fairly standard vertical-scroller set in 2059 which of course charges you with saving Humanity. It's not Earth this time though but a colony in another galaxy which has come under attack from those pesky aliens. As an 'Allied League of Cosmic Nations' pilot, it's your job to fly the catchily-named SW475 star fighter and take down the advancing fleets of alien attackers.

Exploring the NES - Part 3

With the help of my NES-loving friends, Eric and Sean, I have now had a good taster of a wide variety of games for their favourite console. In the process, however, I also received numerous other recommendations from others. So despite the fact that the 'Exploring the NES' feature is now technically concluded, I figured I might as well take a look at the games recommended by others too! These five are the favourites of a splendid fellow you may know as Stiggy (check out his great blog here)...

Double Dragon II (1989)

The entirety of my Double Dragon gaming has so far been done on the Master System's great but flickery port of the original arcade game so I was very interested to see how the sequel fared on the MS's great rival. To my dismay, it's even better! Although differing substantially from its arcade parent, the objective in this version remains the same which sees the Lee Brothers on a mission of revenge after their shared beyatch was killed by the wretched Black Warriors gang. Oh well, at least the game is great fun to play! The music is superb while the graphics, using the distinctive NES colour pallette, are are also great and feature far less flicker than they would on the MS. I was particularly impressed with the stage design which is creative for a game of this type. The first stage, for example, see you climbing up progressively higher rooftops of buildings via ladders until you meet the boss on the top floor! On first impressions, a superb fighting game that I'll definitely return to.

Early Driving Games #2

Rad Racer (1987)
By: Square  Genre: Driving  Players: 1   Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Nintendo NES  First Day Score: 20,414
Also Available For: Nothing

In 1986, Sega did more than just release OutRun - they completely revolutionised the racing game genre itself. Over the years Nintendo have established themselves as the innovators of home gaming but in the comparatively early year that OutRun appeared it was clear that their console didn't have an equivalent. Luckily for them, Square were on hand to quench NES owners thirst for this newly popular genre and the result was... Rad Racer! Interestingly, it was developed by the same team who would go on to create the revolutionary (and company-saving) RPG, Final Fantasy, but fret not - there's no random battles or magical monsters here. In fact, it's about as far from that fantastical world as you can get. Accordingly, it's a game that's predictably short on story or exposition but it does offer an opportunity to drive fast and recklessly and little else. But that's often enough...