Awesome Nature #2

Bumble Bee
Type: Insect  Lives In: Northern Hemisphere  Conservation Status: Endangered

For a long time now, when anyone's asked me what my favourite animal is, I've always replied Bumble Bees. There are lots of reasons for this. They're one of the least hostile insects of their type, for example, and are far less likely to sting than other bees, or especially damn wasps. There's also the myth that they should be incapable of flight. This has of course been proven as false now but it stills gives them an aura of majesty. In fact, their wings are so powerful that they can reach speeds of up to 15 metres-per-second and they can cause a visible helicopter-like down-draft when they hover over plants! They are mainly found in the northern hemisphere where there are more than 250 different species. Sadly, some of these are already extinct and if their decline continues it could spell trouble since they are major pollinators of a majority of our flora and are of vital importance to the delicate ecological and economical balance of our environment. I hope something can be done to help them out though - whether they should be able to fly or not, it always puts a smile on my face when I see one of the little fuzzballs flying around!

Why They Are Awesome: Because they defy science!

NES Platform Games #1

Ice Climber (1984)
By: Nintendo  Genre: Platform  Players: 1-2  Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo NES  First Day Score: 14,160
Also Available For: Arcade, Game Boy Advance, Famicom Disk System, NEC PC-88, Sharp X1
Download For: Wii Virtual Console

It's not often that one system dominates a territory like the NES dominated the US. At its peak, its market share was almost total and there were hundreds of games for lucky American gamers to choose from. One of the first they were able to get their hands on was Ice Climber. Released alongside the NES there, it's a fairly simple platform game which plays a little like a cross between the original Mario Bros and Kid Icarus (which came later, of course) and features two of Nintendo's earliest characters - a pair of Eskimos called Popo (a boy) and Nana (a girl) - both of whom will probably be more well known these days for their appearance in the Super Smash Bros series. Ice Climber marks their first appearance though and, as you may have guessed, also means it's a two-player game. Controlling Popo (or both of them with a friend), it's your job to reach the top of each vertical stage to, amusingly, recover vegetables stolen by a wretched giant Condor!

3DO Games #3

Pataank (1994)
By: PF.Magic Inc  Genre: Pinball  Players: 1  Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: 3DO  First Day Score: 1,810,764
Also Available For: Nothing

One of the great things about videogames is that they allow designers to approach existing subjects from new perspectives. This is one of the reasons why I, and many others, love the Crush series of pinball games. Naxat realised they were no longer bound by the rules of an actual pintable and so covered their tables with all manner of scary creatures and outlandish bonuses. That was one way to play around with the accepted pinball format. Another one is explored here with Pataank. Until this game came along, to the best of my knowledge all pinball videogames viewed the action either from directly above or from the same viewpoint as though playing a real pintable (even the Crush games). Pataank has other ideas - as you might have gathered from the screenshots, the chosen perspective here is not only much closer to the table than normal but actually follows the ball around!

Top Five Saturn Racing Games

Some of my Top Five lists here at Red Parsley are very difficult to compile due to the high number of candidates worthy of inclusion. This particular Top Five, however, has proven to be the trickiest yet, but for a different reason.

As most of you will probably know, the Saturn was a 2D powerhouse but most developers struggled to create decent 3D graphics on it. Many tried though, which has resulted in a lot of mediocre racing games, amongst other genres, meaning I actually had trouble finding five games good enough to include here! Lesson learned - play more Saturn racing games - there must be five really good ones, surely?

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. Scorcher (1996)

One of many futuristic racings games to appear in the late 90's, Scorcher is a real rarity - a Saturn-exclusive game from a third-party developer (okay, there was a PC version too, but that doesn't count)! It didn't really set the world alight though and it's quite easy to see why. The graphics aren't bad from a technical point of view but are largely dark, gloomy, and not terribly eye-catching - about the only bright colours are the green glowy energy-cage things that encircle your space-bike. The controls take a lot of getting used to as well, but stick with it and it turns out to be a challenging but pretty enjoyable futuristic racer. The decent techno/trance soundtrack is noteworthy as well.

Gaming Memories - Part 5

It wasn't too long after I had the pleasure of discovering Astro Wars at my cousin's house that I first met my good friend, Luke. We met in middle school and I believe the catalyst was the mighty Star Wars. It's really hard to remember these things accurately (for me, at least) but I'm pretty sure he heard me talking about what we would soon discover was a mutually-appreciated subject and we soon became friends. The first few times we met up outside of school was of course for Star Wars-related reasons - swapping duplicate figures, primarily - but it wasn't long before I discovered he had a computer too. I only had a passing interest in them at this point but he was eager to show me his favourite games.

Unknown to me at the time, his Dragon 32 was an 8-bit micro and wasn't one of the most well-known or appreciated computers of the day, but where they were most popular was here in the UK. That's hardly surprising, I suppose, since they were produced by Welsh company, Dragon Data, but they were apparently also available in the US as a 'Tano' (any American readers remember them?). It was actually a reasonably powerful machine for its day but also included some rather unfortunate flaws as well which put paid to any chance it might've had of challenging the mighty ZX Spectrum and Commodore range. Luke and I never played a large range of games on the system but we both still have great memories of the ones we did play.

Bat 'n' Ball Games #2

Woody Pop (1991)
By: Sega  Genre: Bat 'n' Ball  Players: 1  Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Sega Game Gear  First Day Score: 65,210
Also Available For: Master System

Nintendo's Game Boy was a instant success from the moment it was launched thanks to the wonders of its bundled game, Tetris, which was perfectly suited to the little white slab o' fun. When Sega released the Game Gear, it was not. Is this because it wasn't released with any games that were perfectly suited to it? In an attempt to determine this I took a look at one launch title recently, and here I'll have a look at another. Perhaps released to show up Nintendo's own bat 'n' ball game, Alleyway, which accompanied the Game Boy's launch, Sega's effort immediately demonstrated the main advantage the Gear Gear held over its rival - colour graphics! Indeed, much like Breakout, Arkanoid, and pretty much every other game of its type, Woody Pop features many different coloured bricks. Colour alone doesn't make a game though, so what else does it have to catch ones eye?

PSP Games #1

LocoRoco (2006)
By: SCE Japan Studio  Genre: Platform  Players: 1  Difficulty: Easy
Featured Version: Sony PSP  First Day Score: Infinity
Also Available For: Nothing

There are very few games around these days that can make me want to buy them just from a mere screenshot. Maybe back in the days of Mean Machines magazine with its amazing shots of shiny new MegaDrive games, but today? Not for me. With that in mind, the chances of there being a game that looks so irresistible that I'll make me want to buy the system it's on just to play it? Surely not? It would have to be a very special game indeed. A game of untold wonder and magnificence. A game so enticingly unique as to awaken a primeval need to explore every facet of its being. Against all the odds, such a game did indeed cross my path. And so it came to pass, RetroKingSimon did unto that day purchase a PSP just to play... LocoRoco.

Film Review #26

The Expendables (2010)
Director: Sylvester Stallane  Starring: Sylvester Stallane, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Giselle Itie, David Zayas, Eric Roberts, Mickey Rourke, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger

Certificate: 15  Running Time: 99 Minutes

Tagline: "Choose your weapons"

Sly has always been underrated as a director and screenwriter in my opinion. After a storming start to his career, he was one of the biggest stars in the world for well over a decade until he suffered a sizeable lull in his career, ironically occurring post-Cop Land, among his best films and most critically-acclaimed performances. A surprising number of his films saw him work as more than just an actor too. In more recent years, he's returned to prominence with new, 'final' instalments in the franchises that helped make his name, and it was largely thanks to these that he was able to convince the powers that be to give this film the green light. Despite his attempts to branch out into other genres over the years though, it remains those blockbuster action films of the 80's and early 90's that he's most famous for, and his latest project was an elaborate and extremely ambitious homage to those that he and all the other muscular brutes of that era starred in.

MegaDrive Platform Games #2

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

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

Top Five Stallone Films

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

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

5. Over the Top (1987)

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

Game Gear Games #1

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

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

Exploring the NES - Part 4

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

Final Fantasy (1987)

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

Mobile Games #4

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

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

MegaDrive Shmups #4

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

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

Gaming Memories - Part 4

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

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