Dizzy Series - Part 3

Fast Food (1987)
By: Oliver Twins / Code Masters Genre: Maze Players: 1 Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Featured Version: ZX Spectrum First Day Score: 1,832
Also Available For: Amiga, Atari ST, PC, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Enterprise 64/128

Love him or hate him, no gamers around at the time could deny that Dizzy's first game was a success, and the sequel that followed hot on its heels was an even bigger hit, so what does any sensible developer do next? That's right, release a spin-off! Fast Food was originally made to promote a fast-food restaurant chain but, mid-way through development, the Olivers simply removed the bits of associated branding and replaced the main character with their increasingly popular ovular hero. The game itself remained more-or-less the same though, and that involved a series of thirty single-screen mazes around which can be found numerous items of foodstuffs. Dizzy's job is simply to collect all of the items in each maze before moving on to the next which, as I'm sure you've guessed, makes it nothing more than a Pac-Man clone. But is it a good Pac-Man clone?

Top Five Citrus Fruits

Everyone knows the best kind of fruits are the citrus varieties but there are so many marginally different kinds that trips to the supermarket can be mighty confusing. Therefore, your favourite non-food-related blog is happy to simplify the matter for you. Forget lemons and limes, grapefruits are too big - look for anything orange (except pumpkins and carrots) and fill your basket accordingly:

5 - Clementine

Next-Gen Driving Games #2

The Need For Speed a.k.a. Over Drivin (1994)
By: Pioneer Studios / Electronic Arts Genre: Driving Players: 1 Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Featured Version: 3DO
Also Available For: Saturn, PlayStation, PC

As one of the very first video game genres, I think it's safe to say that driving games have come a long way since Atari's Night Driver, the first into-the-screen example and released all the way back in '76. Since then there have been some great games released, as well as a good few not-so-great ones, but as enjoyable as they may or may not have been, they were never terribly realistic. Of course, as technology got more advanced their realism slowly improved and today's console efforts appear almost photo-realistic and often require tutorials to even 'play' properly. Between these two points though, the first example of the genre I encountered that truly felt like an actual driving game was The Need For Speed, the first of the now-extensive series that's still going strong today (there's even a movie on the way!), and for this reason it's the game I've always considered the first genuine 'next-generation' driving game.

Film Review #52

The Wolverine (2013)
Director: James Mangold Starring: Hugh Jackman, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima, Famke Janssen, Will Yun Lee, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Haruhiko Yamanouchi, Brian Tee

Certificate: 12A Running Time: 126 Minutes

Tagline: "When enemies rise... when immortality ends... the ultimate battle begins."

Expectation and reality are often two completely different things in the movie world (and indeed most other worlds I guess). I can't count how many times I've expected a film to be great only to find it sucked arse, and happily the reverse has been true a few times as well. However, if I told you there was a film that featured samurai, ninjas, yakuza, and Wolverine, can you honestly tell me there would be any chance that it sucked? Amazingly, this isn't just the stuff of wild fantasies either - such a film does now exist and its name, as if you hadn't guessed, is The Wolverine! Therefore, if there was anyone reading this who hadn't already decided to see the latest X-Men film regardless of any reviews, I expect you now have, but allow me to elaborate a little anyway.

Golf Games #5

Zany Golf (1990)
By: Sandcastle / Electronic Arts Genre: Sports Players: 1-4 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Sega MegaDrive / Genesis
Also Available For: Amiga, Atari ST, PC, Apple IIGS

The MegaDrive was launched with some cracking titles here in the UK but one that failed to capture the attention of many gamers was this mini, or indeed 'zany', golf game. I was one of those who turned my nose up at it in favour of wonders like Golden Axe, Thunder Force 2, Revenge of Shinobi, etc, and for all these years have known it only for the very average magazine reviews it received and the same screen-shot that seemed to do the rounds in said reviews which showed a large hamburger of all things (the designer must've been hungry or something). My interest in golf games has greatly increased in the intervening years though, so I would say it's finally time for me to give this oft-ignored launch game a try, and seek out this most famous of fast food items in the process.

Arcade Shmups #18

Prehistoric Isle in 1930 (1989)
By: SNK Genre: Shooting Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 82,900 (one credit)
Also Available For: Nothing

There really have been too few games to take in the mysterious wonders of the prehistoric world in my opinion. Sure there are a few platform games like Toki and Chuck Rock, but not much else which is a shame. All those lush primeval landscapes, plants, and enormous scary creatures beyond count could've made for some mighty enjoyable adventures. But wait... on the horizon, something's coming... it's SNK to the rescue! Indeed, and far from providing another platformer, they have actually bestowed upon us a shmup that allows us to blow the crap out of all those mysterious wonders of a bygone age! On further investigation, however, it turns out it's not actually set in said bygone age after all but in 1930 (I guess the clue should've been in the title) whereupon the good old US government has sent an expedition into the Bermuda Triangle to investigate the disappearance of many ships over the years only to discover an 'uncharted landmass' which they name Greenhell Isle. Slightly disappointing, then, to find it's not a 'genuine' prehistoric game, but it still has the potential to feature a shedload of cool stuff.

Puzzle Games #14

Kula World a.k.a. Kula Quest, a.k.a. Roll Away (1998)
By: Game Design Sweden AB / SCEE Genre: Puzzle / Platform Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Sony PlayStation First Day Score: 104,770
Also Available For: Nothing
Download For: PlayStation Network

When the fancy 32-bit consoles arrived, every developer around was frantically trying to convert all the game genres under the sun into equally fancy 3D games to wow expectant gamers. Most tried but few succeeded, at least as far as some genres were concerned. One of these was that of puzzle games which probably didn't really seem like a priority at the time. However, from nowhere, courtesy of a developer no one had even previously heard of, came Kula World which, like so many puzzle games before it, seemed like such an obvious idea that it's amazing no one had thought of it before! Accordingly, the concept is a simple one: you are charged with guiding a beach ball (a 'Kula' beach ball, no less) across/around a floating geometric shape with the ultimate objective of reaching the exit. As any gamer should already know, however, it's not quite that simple.

Crush Series Overview

In the unlikely event that you've been reading my ramblings here at Red Parsley since all the way back at the beginning, you may remember that I've long been keen on Naxat's rather spiffing Crush series of pinball games. Even including the (fairly) recent Wii remake, however, there have only been six releases in the series, and only three of them are generally considered unique and proper instalments.

What is much more likely, however, is that you haven't been visiting my humble blog for very long (or ever before) and have therefore seen nothing of my enthusiastic tributes to the (mostly) fine games that make up this intriguing series. Therefore, as it's been a long time since I posted anything about them, and also because I was recently reminded of an article I wrote for the Replay magazine a while back, I thought I'd share it with my tens of readers here as well to wrap up my coverage of the series. Behold, for your possible reading pleasure:

Top Five Mega CD Shmups

With Sega at the peak of their powers in the early 90's, the Mega CD was supposed to consolidate their lofty position as well as herald a new age of home entertainment. What we ended up with, however, was an expensive add-on which few developers supported with much enthusiasm. Those that did release titles for it gave us either games with fancy graphics and FMV but little in the way of gameplay or games that were hard to distinguish from examples on a non-enhanced Mega Drive. Neither type did very well - the former because they weren't very enjoyable, the latter because they weren't the revolutionary titles gamers were promised. Looking back now, it is of course the second type which provided the better games and probably the most numerous examples were shoot 'em ups. Here are the best ones:

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. Silpheed (1993, Game Arts)

Every console has a 'showcase' game and this was often the one used to promote the power of the Mega CD around the time of its launch. At first glance it might look like a complicated space combat game of some sort but it's actually a pretty basic semi-3D vertical scroller, only with fancy polygonal ships over pre-rendered backdrops. The story is the same old stuff (although it's told in a decent rendered intro) but your nifty ship is equipped with a twin-shot and a shield to help it through the eleven tricky stages. Splendidly, when the latter expires, any further hits cause damage to your ship rather than just destroying it right away - first the engines go wonky, then the weapon power decreases, etc. There are of course also a tonne of power-ups and weapons to look out for. Silpheed is often dismissed as a glorified tech-demo, and it's perhaps not as great as it thinks it is, but it's still a mighty enjoyable blaster, and one with the kind of graphics and presentation MD owners has only previously dreamed of.

Dizzy Series - Part 2

Treasure Island Dizzy (1987)
By: Oliver Twins / Code Masters Genre: Arcade Adventure Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: ZX Spectrum First Day Score: >39,000
Also Available For: NES, CD32, Amiga, Atari ST, PC, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Enterprise 64/128

Another great loading screen from the Oliver Twins...

Despite some of the less-than-pleasant things said about his début game, Dizzy still proved very popular among the many 8-bit micro users in the UK in the mid-to-late eighties and Code Masters, never ones to miss an opportunity, soon capitalised on this success by concocting the inevitable sequel, this time to appear on a much broader range of platforms. Even though there were now some fancy console and 16-bit incarnations of his adventure, however, it remained the trusty Speccy which hosted the most popular and arguably the best version. The Olivers sensibly changed little about the basic style of the game and merely moved Dizzy from the fairy-tale inspired world of the original to a deserted tropical island which, as hinted at by the title, was indeed home to much treasure. Dizzy's main objective, though, was simply to escape this new, dangerous land unscathed.

Film Review #51

Fast & Furious 6 (2013)
Director: Justin Lin Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Dwayne Johnson, Tyrese Gibson, Luke Evans, Chris Bridges, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Jordana Brewster, Gina Carano, Elsa Pataky, John Ortiz

Certificate: 12A Running Time: 130 Minutes

Tagline: "All roads lead to this"

Who knew when Dominic Toretto first started throwing his weight around outside his sandwich shop all those years ago that he, and the series which gave him his name, would still be going strong by the sixth instalment? If it wasn't for the short-but-intriguing post-credits scene in the fifth film, this latest outing is one that wouldn't even make sense either. When we left our favourite 'team' they had just pulled off an enormous (and destructive) heist that left them all fabulously wealthy and we rejoin them a short while later enjoying the luxurious lifestyles they can now afford. Then of course, soon after Dom (Diesel) and Brian (Walker) quite literally race to the hospital where Mia (Brewster) is in the process of giving birth, Agent Hobbs (Johnson) turns up to ruin their fun with news of a crack (snigger) team of drivers who are targeting military convoys across Europe.

Sega Super Scaler Games #1

Hang-On (1985)
By: Sega Genre: Racing Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 6,955,190
Also Available For: Master System, SG-1000, MSX

The strange choice of isometric lettering for the title...

Amusement arcades were once wonderful places, especially in the 80's, and among the most intriguing machines were always those games with the giant moving hydraulic things. I'm not sure who created the first but Sega were certainly responsible for some of the most impressive examples which usually placed you on (or in) a wibbly plastic interpretation of the in-game vehicle in question. One of their earlier efforts was Hang-On which I didn't first encounter until after the more famous Super Scaler trio of Space Harrier, Out Run, and of course the hyper-tastic After Burner but, upon viewing the large red motorcycle that sat it front of its screen, my enthusiasm was far from dampened and I hastily sat astride the device in question. Unfortunately, this quickly proved to be the first of these 'simulator' machines that I didn't get on with, thanks mainly to the need to actually lean all the way in one direction or the other to steer the bike. Realistic perhaps, but difficult for a young pipsqueak like me to get to grips with!

Game Boy Games #1

Gargoyle's Quest (1990)
By: Capcom Genre: Arcade Adventure Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo Game Boy
Also Available For: Nothing

Since the mid-80's Capcom have been among the most revered and celebrated of Japanese developers and a big part of the reason for that is the numerous franchises for which they churn out many apparently endless instalments. One of the first of these was that of Ghosts'n Goblins, the splendid Sir Arthur-starring platform/run 'n' gunners which have long been notorious for their insane difficulty as well as splendour, but how many fans are as enthusiastic about the spin-offs? One of the first was Gargoyle's Quest, released exclusively for Nintendo's little handheld and strangely devoid of the main star of the previous games. In place of our brave and noble knight is something which should be familiar to fans of the original game - a scary red demon who goes by the name of either Red Arremer (Japanese version) or Firebrand (Western versions) who must battle to save the Ghoul Realm from the evil wrath of King Breager.

Time For A Break...

Oh, hello there, I'm Simon, custodian of this humble blog. As regular visitors may have noticed by now, new posts have been somewhat thin on the ground of late. This has mainly been caused by a recent period of illness from which I am now mostly recovered. Since then, however, I have found myself with a startling lack of interest or enthusiasm in doing... well, pretty much anything really, and that includes playing spiffy retro games and then writing about them here. I therefore think the time is right to take my first sabbatical since starting this blog over three years ago. I feel confident my passion and enthusiasm for this subject, as well as my other fields of endeavour, will soon return. Until then, enjoy the summer, and I'll no doubt be boring you with all manner of new posts in a few weeks or months. And don't defect to any other blogs or I shall be most upset ;)

Random Game I've Never Heard Of #9

Galmedes (1992)
By: Visco Corp Genre: Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: HARD!
Featured Version: Arcade First Day Score: 23,900 (one credit)
Also Available For: Nothing

Despite my internet nickname I've never actually considered myself a 'king' of retro gaming, just an enthusiastic fan really. It's no secret here at Red Parsley, however, that shmups are probably my favourite, and certainly most frequently played genre, and I do know quite a bit about games of this type. It was therefore something of a surprise that, during one of my random game hunts, I discovered one that not only had I never played before but that I'd never even heard of! Eeek, whatever's going on?! Now that this embarrassing revelation has been shared with, potentially, the entire world, I shall of course henceforth seek to rectify the oversight at once. To that end, a brief search reveals the story to be a rather uninspiring one which involves a dictator with the decidedly unscary name of Gildy.