Robin Hood (2010) Director: Ridley Scott Starring: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Mark Strong, Alan Doyle, Scott Grimes, Kevin Durand, Danny Huston
Certificate: 12A Running Time: 140 Minutes
Tagline:The untold story behind the legend.
Admittedly I don't buy the movie magazines like I used to but this one seemed to pop up out of nowhere for me! Once I found out about it though, the expectation and excitement immediately began to surface. How could they not? What film fan wouldn't be at least intrigued by the prospect of another Ridley Scott / Russell Crowe collaboration to begin with, let alone a Robin Hood one? Perhaps it would end up being a big ol' Summer Blockbuster along the same lines as the fantastic Gladiator! Or would it be a more cerebral piece like American Gangster? One things's for sure - anyone expecting a retelling of the classic tale is in for a surprise, for the yarn this film spins is in effect a prequel to that oft-told legend.
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.
Marble Madness(1991) By: Atari / Electronic Arts Genre: Platform / Puzzle Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium Featured Version: Sega MegaDrive / Genesis Also Available For:Arcade, Master System, NES, GameBoy, GameBoy Advance, PC, Amiga, Atari ST, C64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Apple IIGS
Originally released in the world's arcades in 1984, Marble Madness was another cracker from the then red-hot Atari. At least, that's what you'd be forgiven for thinking, given the game's popularity. In truth, it was a competent enough arcade game for its time, but somewhat less suitable as 16-bit console release seven years later. Marble Madness, you see, is a very simple game - you control a marble which you have to guide to the end of the level or 'goal' within a strict time limit. Achieve this and you'll get to tackle the next level. Each level is viewed from a 3D isometric perspective and is set on a series of raised platform sections. The surface of these levels is far from even though - it leans at all manner of angles, and ramps, chutes, bridges, and other such things also adorn the landscape and must be traversed in order to succeed.
As some of you may know, I'm a big fan of videogame music, particularly of the retro variety. It was around... hmm, I guess 10 years ago now, that I started my collection, initially by recording MegaDrive tunes using the splendid Gens emulator, but I didn't discover the remix community until a bit later. It was while searching for the original OutRun music that I first encountered Instant Remedy, and it opened the door to an unimaginable number of songs.
Instant Remedy is Martin Noriander (formerly Martin Andersson), a Swedish guy born in 1976, and a Commodore 64 fanatic who has spent a good deal of his time and effort remixing some of his favourte SID tunes. Now, one of my biggest embarrassments as a gamer is that I've never played, or indeed even used a Commodore 64 - I was always a Speccy fanboy until I moved onto consoles - so I've never even heard any of these famous SID creations everyone keeps raving about, but that didn't stop my elation at hearing Magical Sound Shower, one of my all-time favourite game tunes, in an exciting new way! And so began my collection of remixed game tunes. Instant Remedy was the first and I soon discovered just how many more talented enthusiasts were up to the same sort of thing!
I'm now proud/embarrassed to admit that I have somewhere in the region of 120Gb of game music, and much of it is awesome remixes (or 'arrangements') of all manner of classic game soundtracks. A vast majority of them, including Instant Remedy, are done in a dance/trance style, as you might expect, and I hope to cover some of the other awesome musicians here at some point, but for now, wrap you ears around the one that started it all for me.... Instant Remedy OutRun!
And if you like this track even nearly as much as I did, it might be worth you investing in some of Martin's other Instant Remedy tracks, available here. Apparently, Martin also has a CD available featuring the same tracks (listed below with original composers in brackets), so grab a copy of that if you get the chance too!
1. Last Ninja - The Palace (by Antony Lees) 1987 2. Flimbo's Quest (by Reyn Ouwehand) 1990 3. Comic Bakery (Extended Version) (by Martin Galway) 1986 4. International Karate (by Rob Hubbard) 1986 5. Game On (Issue 09 to 89) (by Markus Schneider) 1989 6. Ghosts 'n Goblins (Trance Version) (by Mark Cooksey) 1986 7. IK+ (by Rob Hubbard) 1987 8. Last Ninja - The Wastelands (Club Version) (by Ben Daglish) 1987 9. Trolls (by Adam Gilmore) 1993 10. Warriors (Club Version) (by Thomas Mogensen) 1989 11. Commando (V2) (by Rob Hubbard) 1985 12. West Bank (V2) (by Fred Gray) 1986 13. Last Ninja - Wastelands (Extended Version) (by Ben Daglish) 1987 14. Comic Bakery (by Martin Galway) 1986 15. Commando (by Rob Hubbard) 1985
Thunder Force 2 (1990) By: Techno Soft Genre: Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium-Hard Featured Version: Sega MegaDrive / Genesis First Day Score: 363,130 Also Available For:Sharp X68000
My recent investigations into the origins of the Thunder Force series have yielded some very interesting results but this is where it all started for me - 1989, a friend's house, an imported MegaDrive, and a handful of games. One of the first ones we played? That's right, it was the underrated Thunder Force 2. Mere mention of the words 'Thunder Force' is enough to bring pleasant memories flooding back for a great many gamers who were growing up around the time of the 16-bit console boom, but for many, these memories concern the visual tour-de-force that was Thunder Force 3 or even the oft-heralded Thunder Force 4. The second game was not so well known. Released alongside the MegaDrive, at least here in the U.K, Thunder Force 2, while one of the best launch games money could buy, was still something of a missed gem for many.
F-Zero(1990) By:Nintendo EAD Genre: RacingPlayers: 1 Difficulty: Easy-Medium Featured Version:Nintendo SNES First Day Score: 27,200 Also Available For: Nothing Download For: Wii Virtual Console
I have always been of the opinion that it's gameplay that counts, not graphics, hence my love of older games (increasingly in preference to new ones, in fact). This is my view and I stand by it. However, if there always seemed to be one genre that belied that stance, it's that of the racing/driving games. The way games of this type play, specifically the vehicle handling and play modes in my experience, has always been of the greatest importance, and that will always remain the case too, but due to the somewhat restrictive nature of the hardware available during the early years of the industry, we rarely saw examples of any kind. When we did, with the exception of a small number of classics, they were not often particularly spiffing. Either too much effort was put into making them look as pretty as possible, with the design and gameplay ending up tacked-on afterthoughts, or they simply couldn't make them look remotely convincing to start with. Then along came the SNES.
Badlands(1989) By: Atari Genre: Overhead Racing Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 32,140 Also Available For: PC, Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum
After helping to put the overhead racing genre on the map with Super Sprint, there was unsurprisingly soon a glut of similar games. Never ones to rest on their laurels, it wasn't long before Atari offered their own 'update' in Badlands. This is one of those games that I'd been hearing about for years but hadn't actually played until now for this review! Finally playing it yielded few surprises, however - aside from a few additions to the basic formula, an 'update' is about all it is - Super Sprint in different clothes! Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, of course; Super Spint is hardly a stinker itself. So how does Badlands differ from its forebear? Read on...
Iron Man 2 (2010) Director: Jon Favreau Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Samuel L Jackson
Certificate: 12 Running Time: 124 Minutes
Tagline:It's not the armour that makes the hero, but the man inside
I don't think too many people would argue that the first Iron Man film was a surprise hit. It had all the right ingredients to be one but was still a bit of a gamble - rookie director, risky cast choices, unproven draw-power of character - but happily it paid off; Iron Man proved to be one of the most enjoyable comic-book adaptations to date thanks in no small part to Jon Favreau's sublime direction, the irresistible charisma of Robert Downey Jr. in a role he was just perfect for, and what turned out to be a hugely popular character. Thankfully, they both return in this well-timed sequel. But herein lies a problem. The first film ended up such a hit, Iron Man 2, unlike its predecessor, had a lot to live up to. The weight of expectation has killed many a film, but did it kill this one?
Chronos(1987) By:MastertronicGenre:ShootingPlayers:1Difficulty:Medium Featured Version:ZX Spectrum First Day Score: 36,950 Also Available For:Amstrad CPC
Back in the distant past of gaming, a phenomenon known as budget gaming was born. Budget games were something that, until Sony came along and introduced their 'Platinum' range of older titles, had never graced the console market, but were restricted to the classic home computers of the day. They were at their most successful during the days of the battle for 8-bit computer supremacy and, at this time, they usually cost £1.99 or £2.99. They included, either top-selling titles which had been on release at full price for a while already (much like the Platinum range), or they were original but often somewhat limited games whose developers felt wouldn’t shift many units at full price, and thus released them for a knock-down price. Some budget games were indeed substandard, or even mind-numbingly crap, but there were also many better than average, or even awesome titles available too. Chronos was among these.
For the longest time there were only the nine planets that were known to us, with this number of course being controversially reduced in eight in more recent years, and they have become incredibly familiar to those of us who care to glance skywards now and then, but now countless more have been discovered orbiting alien stars. Many of these appear to be even stranger than we could've imagined but for most of us, none of them will ever hold the allure of the more familiar worlds that are closer to us. Perhaps one of them was the first sight we gazed upon when first looking through a telescope; perhaps one was the subject of a favourite childhood science-fiction tale; perhaps it's simply a particular alien quality of one of them that we find appealing, but I'm sure we all have our favourites. And these are mine:
5 - Venus
Long considered Earth's twin, this comparably-sized planet features hellish conditions that no life from our home could endure. Its atmosphere has constant lightning and is so dense the first few Venera probes sent by the Russians were crushed before reaching the ground. Even the ones that did manage to land unscathed only lasted an hour or so before melting. There is also sulphuric acid rain, every part of the surface features evidence of volcanic activity, and the entire planet leaves a tail behind it in space, much like a comet, due to the Sun's solar wind!
Ridge Racer(1994) By: Namco Genre: Racing Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium Featured Version: Sony PlayStation Also Available For:Arcade, PlayStation 2 (as part of compilation)
Back in the good old days when amusement arcades actually had games in them, every now and then an example would arrive that took the world by storm. Everyone, everywhere is talking about it, playing it, or talking about playing it, and if you're not among them, you're left out. Arguably one of the very last of these titles was Namco's rather popular Ridge Racer. When it was announced as a launch title for the Sony's new PlayStation console its fans went into mild hysterics. "We can now play the best racing game of all-time in the comfort of our own homes!" they all exclaimed with glee. It arrived - they all bought a PlayStation and a copy of it, played it for a couple of hours, and realised that Ridge Racer was far from the best racing game of all-time, after all. A valuable lesson to us all then, that good arcade games do not always make good home console games.
Dragon's Fury (a.k.a. Devil Crash MD) (1992) By: TechnoSoft Genre: Pinball Players: 1-2 (alternate) Difficulty: Medium Featured Version: Sega MegaDrive / Genesis First Day Score: 22,593,300 Also Available For:NEC PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 Download For: PlayStation Network
For two years, Devil's Crush had been thrilling Japanese (and to a lesser extent, American) PC Engine gamers before, unlike its prequel, it finally received a conversion, and it was MegaDrive owners who were the lucky ones to receive it. Handled by Technosoft (famous for the Thunder Force series), it's a more or less a straight conversion of the Engine game (aside from the unnecessary name change), but there are a few noteworthy differences. Aside from a few small, almost unnoticeable changes, the main table in this version looks pretty much the same as it did on the Engine - everything's in the same place and everything does the same thing, though the ball feels a little weightier and doesn’t seem to bounce around quite so much.
Iron Man (2008) Director: Jon Favreau Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow, Shaun Toub, Faran Tahir, Paul Bettany
They are continuing to gradually work their way down the popularity list of super-heroes, aren't they? Whilst hardly an unknown, I doubt as many people know who Tony Stark is as Peter Parker or Bruce Wayne! That may have helped this film when it was first released though - I don't think there was huge expectation, even from the fanboys. That combined with the fact that this is Marvel's first self-financed feature and the first part of their 'Marvel Cinematic Univerise' series of films, it seemed quite a gamble. But did it pay off? I suppose anyone reading this now will already know the answer to that but still! As with most films of this type, this is an 'origins' story. It has obviously been updated to make it easier to relate to, but the basics are the same as they were way back in the 60's.
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. Super Off Road(1992)
This classic is the spiritual successor to the great Super Sprint and pretty much revived the flagging overhead racing genre all by itself. Its popularity saw it converted to virtually every system under the sun but this splendid MS version is the one I played the most (although I also liked it on the Speccy!). Unlike the arcade (and NES) version, it does only support two players simultaneously (as opposed to three and four respectively), but that doesn't massively detract from the enjoyment of racing the big chunky trucks around the numerous bumpy, pot-hole-ridden courses. It's not a huge step forward from Super Sprint, gameplay-wise, but its exciting, addictive, fast-paced action never gets old and is great fun for beginners and experts alike.
Behind Enemy Lines (2001) Director: John Moore Starring: Owen Wilson, Gene Hackman, Gabriel Macht, Vladimir Mashkov, Olek Krupa, Joaquim de Almeida
Certificate: 15 Running Time: 101 Minutes
Tagline: "In War There Are Some Lines You Should Never Cross"
Better known these days for his comedic tomfoolery with other 'frat pack' alumni, Owen Wilson is less well known as an action star, and yet here he is in the leading role of one such film, and with nary a humorous moment to be found! Pretty good he is too in this Bosnian War-set thriller, based unofficially on the experiences of a real-life American pilot. Lt. Chris Burnett (Wilson) is stationed on an aircraft carrier in the Adriatic Sea and has grown bored and frustrated with his career in the US Air Force and is preparing to leave. However, Burnett, along with Stackhouse, his buddy and the pilot to Wilson's navigator, are given a reconnaissance mission on the eve of their ship's departure. Briefly straying off-mission, they discover some far from friendly activity in a supposed demilitarised zone, including evidence of war atrocities. Obviously keen to keep their secret, the Bosnian-Serb army shoots them down.
