RetroTube: Bound High video (Virtual Boy)
October 3, 2009 by Tim
Now that I’m starting to do more with the site the last few weeks, I figured I’d start up some of the old features I used to post. So with that said, I have a new RetroTube for you. This isn’t exactly new or groundbreaking footage or anything like that, but I stumbled upon it for the first time a couple of days ago and thought it was really interesting — especially since I’ve been recently reacquainted with the Virtual Boy after repairing mine last week.
There are a couple of holy grails in the Virtual Boy “scene” (what little scene there may be). Right before the system was killed off, a second generation of games was nearing release that were supposed to take better advantage of the hardware and really make the system shine. The two most anticipated games were Dragon Hopper and Bound High. Both were nearly (if not totally) complete, but were never released. As such, Virtual Boy fans still crave the games to this day, but with only a few accounts of sightings at tradeshows and a handful of low-quality screenshots to whet their appetites. Well, it turns out that Bound High has actually made it into the hands of at least one member of the public, and he’s posted the only extended video footage of the game that I’ve ever seen:
And a second (shorter, lower quality) video with a sample of the game’s sounds:
Maybe Dragon Hopper will be next?
A Virtual Spanish Surprise
September 30, 2009 by Tim
I recently bought a few Virtual Boy games off of eBay and they came in the mail yesterday. The interesting thing about this transaction is that I bought them from a seller in Mexico. The set came with Panic Bomber (loose), Wario Land (complete), and Teleroboxer (complete). Well, when they arrived, I discovered that not only were Wario Land and Teleroboxer complete, they were still sealed! But then, on closer inspection, I noticed they weren’t quite sealed. Both games were very purposefully slit open at the top. Collectors sometimes do this to keep everything in the most pristine possible condition, so I didn’t make much of it. Until I noticed that, strangely, the shrinkwrap wasn’t cut enough to actually open the flaps and get the games out. What was the point of that?
Well, once I opened them the rest of the way (yes, I’m a dirty sealed-games opener), it became obvious. Remember, the games came from a seller in Mexico. They’re identical in every way to the US release. In fact, they probably are the same as the US releases, except for one thing — someone went through and slid a printout of Spanish-language instructions into them! It’s pretty trivial, but as an enthusiast, I found it to be an interesting discovery. In fact, it made me realize I hadn’t even considered Mexico as much of a gaming market. I wonder if this is how they get most of their games? Hand-me-downs from the US, stuffed with Spanish instructions as almost an afterthought?
Anyway, for you collectors out there, I guess there are a few extra pieces of official documentation you have to pick up to have a complete set! Have a look:
Out of This World (SNES / 3DO)
September 28, 2009 by Tim
Out of This World was a landmark game when it came out in 1991. By attempting to bridge the gap between cinema and games, it pushed the medium in new directions, but at the same time, it succumbed to what’s probably the industry’s biggest insecurity — the fact that it’s not film. How many games have attempted to be “cinematic” throughout the years? And how many have truly succeeded? Were all those FMV games in the early days of the CD format really better because they were movie-like? Is Metal Gear Solid the pinnacle of gaming because of Hideo Kojima’s obvious desire to be a director, rather than a game producer? How many “cinematic” games are actually made better by the fact that they’re movie-like? Maybe a more relevant question might be, “do games even need to be cinematic?”
Regardless of the relationship between movies and games, film’s influence in Out of This World is obvious. But instead of taking the obvious route and filling the game with FMV and D-list actors, Out of This World is a little more subtle. Instead of being a playable movie, it simply takes many of the themes of cinema and applies them to games — story, the creation of tension, attachment to characters, action, a complementary soundtrack, and so on. All of these were groundbreaking for the time, and as a result, Out of This World holds a special place in gaming history for many people.
But calling it a “groundbreaking” or “watershed” or “landmark” game doesn’t necessarily tell you what really matters — does it stand the test of time? That’s a difficult one to answer. Taken in context of the time it came out, it’s fantastic. But 18 years later, does it still hold its own? Frankly, it’s a tough call. To be sure, I like Out of This World. I think it’s a very interesting game and well worth a play-through. But at the same time, it’s definitely showing its age and its flaws are a little more apparent than they may have once been.
Alex Kidd: High Tech World (Sega Master System)
September 22, 2009 by Tim
Having been a Nintendo kid, I find the Alex Kidd series kind of strange. If I had to use one word to describe it, I think it would be “disjointed.” This probably stems from the fact that a couple of entires in the series are actually just rebranded versions of other games. (In fact, Sega’s other early franchise series, Wonder Boy, has a similar history.) The series kicked off in a not-so-disjointed fashion with a couple of standard platformers: Alex Kidd in Miracle World and Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars. But then it just turned kind of weird after that. There was an odd Japan-only BMX game, which I know almost nothing about, and then there were Alex Kidd: High Tech World and Alex Kidd in Shinobi World.
Alex Kidd: High Tech world is actually a rebranded version of a Japanese Master System game called “Anmitsu Hime: From Amakara Castle,” a game based off of some anime I’ve never heard of. Naturally, the US anime-audience being what it was in the 80s, that was not going to sell over here. So, Sega slapped their mascot onto the game and called it a day.
But, what is it, exactly? It’s actually a fairly interesting combination of adventure and platforming. But instead of being an adventure/platformer, it’s literally a set of alternating sections of gameplay. Sega also managed to throw a few tongue-in-cheek self-references into the mix, too. In fact, the basic premise is that you’ve just found out from your friend that there’s a new arcade in town and you really want to go play the new Sega arcade games. And you have to get there before 5:00, with the clock ticking the entire time.
A Boy and His Blob (NES)
September 14, 2009 by Tim
I like side-scrollers. I like adventure games. I like “obscure” games that show up on “hidden gems” lists. I like quirky games. So it all stands to reason that I would like A Boy and His Blob, right? Well, sure enough, I do. No stylistic twist to get your attention here, I just plain like it. It’s a good game. Flawed, but good.
I had never heard of A Boy and His Blob (or, even its full title, “David Crane’s A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia”) back in the day, let alone actually having played it. In fact, I was only clued into its existence sometime over the last couple of years. I noticed that as I read a few “hidden gems” and “overlooked games” lists around the web and various retro games forums, this one kept popping up. I knew it was an NES game, I knew it was an adventure game, and I knew you were a boy with blob that changed shapes when you fed it jellybeans (yes, jellybeans). Beyond that, I didn’t know much else.
So with a fresh mindset and little in the way of expectations, I dove into A Boy and His Blob. And then I got stuck. After about five minutes of playing the game. So I turned it off, and came back later. And I got stuck again. At the same spot. So I turned it off and came back later. But this time, I was determined to actually figure the damn game out. And this is when it all started to click and I “got” the game. I took notes on what all the different jellybeans did, I started making a map, and I remembered what Metroid taught me: never assume a dead-end is actually a dead-end.
Now using The Backloggery
September 2, 2009 by Tim
Ahh, it’s been another long hiatus, but fear not — I am still playing old games (in fact, my collection has expanded significantly since my last post). On top of that, I’m making actual progress in a few games!
And that’s where this comes in handy… I discovered The Backloggery a few weeks ago, a site that is obviously after my own heart. I guess I’m not the only one out there with a massive backlog of games to play through. Apparently, there are enough of us to gear a whole social networking site around the concept!
So check out my profile, where I’ll slowly be listing my collection and my progress in each game. If you have an account (or create one after this), drop me a line and add me as a friend! In fact, if you were following me, you’d already know that I just beat A Boy and His Blob for NES a few minutes ago! (So hey, maybe that means a new review will actually be posted soon…)
Amiga CD32 NTSC Compatibility List
May 2, 2009 by Tim
Several months ago, I purchased a CD32. I had been interested in the system for a long time, since it has a fairly interesting story and brand new systems are easy to get on eBay. Unfortunately, mine came with a busted controller, so I didn’t get much use of it. I finally fixed it, but all that is a backstory for another post.
All you need to know for this post is that Commodore was planning on releasing the system in the US, but it never happened because they went bankrupt. But before they went bankrupt, a whole warehouse worth of NTSC systems were built. As a result, it’s pretty easy to get hardware, but since no NTSC games were released, software is a whole different matter.
Because of the lack of official NTSC software, most North American CD32 owners have to resort to import titles. The problem there is that they were all designed for PAL systems, so there are some compatibility issues, mostly amounting to cut off displays. There seems to be a fair amount of interest in the system on this side of the pond, but a general lack of information on which games work and which don’t. This list is an attempt to rectify that.
As I play a new CD32 game, I’ll add an entry to this page to describe its compatibility with NTSC systems. For the record, I’m using one of the NTSC systems that are so easy to find on eBay, with an S-Video connection to a standard-def NTSC CRT TV. Unless otherwise noted, I’m booting the game in NTSC mode instead of the hidden PAL mode. Here’s what I’ve found so far:
- Bubba N Stix: Poor. Does not boot in NTSC mode. Boots in PAL mode, but the refresh rate is all wrong and causes the screen to scroll.
- Chuck Rock: Excellent. The in-game action runs at a weird resolution, though, so there is a black box around the picture. The “Core Design” logo at boot-up is off center, but the game appears to adjust itself after that.
- D/Generation: Perfect. But like Chuck Rock, it runs with some black borders.
- Guardian: Great, but needs adjustment. The bottom of the screen is cut off at the default settings. To fix, start a game, pause, then use the shoulder buttons to adjust the position of the picture.
- Lost Vikings: Perfect, and a great game, to boot!
- The Misadventures of Flink: Good. The game boots in NTSC mode but hangs when you begin the first stage. Boot in PAL mode for a perfect experience, even on NTSC TVs. The Green button seems to toggle between 50 and 60 Hz modes.
That’s it for now, but the list will surely expand!
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5/15/09 Update: Added The Misadventures of Flink and Bubba N Stix.
Metroid (NES)
February 2, 2009 by Tim
In the hardcore gaming world, there are several series that have been elevated to almost sainthood status. Series like Zelda, Metroid, and Final Fantasy have fervent fan bases and traditions dating back to the NES. More recently, Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, and (maybe) Halo have started to build the same kinds of traditions. For me, all of these series have one thing in common. I’ve never beaten a single game in any of them.
Well, until today, that is… For I have finally done the unthinkable and played through a Metroid game from start to finish! Back in 2007, I assigned myself a mini-mission of playing through Super Metroid because it’s supposedly one of the greatest games ever, and I hadn’t even played it before. Well, that didn’t really go very well. Quite frankly, I found the game extremely frustrating.
So what on Earth compelled me to play the original NES Metroid after not enjoying the SNES version? After all, even many people that love Super Metroid find the original obscure and tedious. Well, I didn’t really set out to play it. I’ve been on an NES collecting kick lately, and Metroid came in a bundle that I got off of Craigslist. I decided to pop it in and give it a shot, and I was hooked right from the start.
Space Invaders Extreme (DS)
August 20, 2008 by Tim
Alright, I know it’s not a real retro game, but it’s very retro inspired. There hasn’t been much activity around here lately because I’ve been playing a lot of newer games on my DS and Wii. Space Invaders Extreme is one of those games, and definitely deserves a shout-out for other retro game fans.
For the uninitiated, Space Invaders Extreme is a modern take on the classic Space Invaders formula, developed by Taito and published by Square Enix as a celebration of the original’s 30th anniversary. It’s got souped up gameplay, graphics, and a really slick soundtrack where each shot you take adds to the rhythm of the music. You can play several single-player modes like Arcade Mode (play through up to 5 stages on several branching paths, depending on how well you play), Ranking Mode (get the highest score you can to upload to the online leaderboards) and Stage Mode (play a single stage you’ve completed in Arcade Mode for the highest score). There’s also multiplayer where you try to outlast your opponent while sending extra invaders their way.
There’s a lot of added strategy to this game beyond the original. The enemies are color coded and destroying different colors in different orders will give you powerups and access to bonus rounds. Destroy them in different patterns (like individual columns or rows at a time) for bonus points. Do well in the bonus rounds and start a “Fever” mode where you can earn major bonus points. All the possible ways to score make this a surprisingly deep shooter with lots of strategy.
On top of all this, the DS version even has online play! You really can’t go wrong with this game. So for anyone that may stumble upon my humble little retro game site, I’m going to recommend you go out and play a modern title, too. Especially at $20, you just can’t go wrong.
Modern “Classics”
June 4, 2008 by Tim
Even though I primarily play older games, I dabble in more modern ones on occasion — especially lately with the Wii. I posted a while back about how I got a bit of a “classic game” feel out of playing Killer 7 on the GameCube, and I’m getting a similar feeling from a couple of titles on WiiWare now. If you’re a retro gamer with a Wii, I recommend looking beyond just the Virtual Console selection and explore WiiWare if you haven’t already. While the service is only a few weeks old, there are several games with retro roots. The flagship is a Dr. Mario update and there’s even a new entry in the Star Soldier series, but the two I really want to recommend to retro gamers are a couple of puzzle-platformers: LostWinds and Toki Tori.
LostWinds is a wonderful little side scrolling adventure that uses the Wii remote to blow gusts of wind that help your character make jumps, fight enemies, and so on. There are some interesting puzzles and the whole thing just oozes wonderful atmosphere. Toki Tori is a little more conventional and reminds me a lot of Lost Vikings and similar ilk. You’re a small, flightless bird that has to work its way around a side-scrolling maze to collect eggs. You have powers like bridge building and even short teleportation. Both games actually make interesting use of the second remote, even though they’re both one-player games. A second person can join in LostWinds to play around with blowing gusts of wind and in Toki Tori, they can draw paths on the screen and point things out to make recommendations. It’s very clever, and Toki Tori has been a lot of fun with two people collaborating on the hard puzzles.
Anyway, just a couple quick thoughts, and a recommendation that if you like older games, WiiWare might actually have some newer ones that could appeal to you.
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