Darkness Descends Upon the Blog

Sorry, but I don't have the time to devote to the blog anymore.

As such, I'm gonna take it offline soon.  I don't like when you got to sites, follow links and Google stuff and you wind up on a site that hasn't been updated in a long time.  So rather than have that happen here, I'm just going to shut down the blog after I give followers some time to check out stuff they haven't had the chance to yet.

On or around May 1st.... Kaboom.

GOTD - Eco Fighters

Eco Fighters (EF) is a great-looking horizontal shooter with an interesting control scheme and a secondary weapon that is really the primary weapon.

You have two ways to shoot in EF.  Your normal fire/cannon and a protruding mechanical arm that rotates 360 degrees and fires all types of upgradeable fodder.  You control your ship and the weapons with a joystick and three buttons.  One to fire your weapons, one to rotate your arm clockwise and one to rotate your arm counter-clockwise.  This is a pretty unusual way to accomplish this.  Normally, there would have been a dial/spinner or some other analog control to rotate.  But this is NOT a MAME button mapping/analog replacing change, this is how the game is supposed to work.  In fact, I reversed the process and programmed MAME to use the spinner to rotate the arm relative to how I moved the spinner.  Remarkably, despite the fact that the spinner is analog and doesn't always work well as a replacement for a button/switch press, the game played extremely well this way also - a lot like the gameplay of previous GOTD Forgotten Worlds.
EF is a typical horz shooter for its day, albeit with superior graphics and a "save the world" theme.  BUT, the arm/weapon does make the gameplay a little bit different than usual.  There is so much concentration on where the arm is pointing and which weapon is being deployed that it is really your primary focus.  Additionally, much of the arms weaponry is more attached to the arm then shot from it.  Think flamethrower or buzzsaw.  So many of your best attacks are more like direct/adjacent attacks rather than long-range missile/shot attacks.  I found myself with some of the bosses just holding steady right next to them trying to fry or buzz them down like I was giving them a haircut.  You can also hold down the fire button and rotate your arm resulting in a 360 spray of fire that's hard for the enemy to avoid.

I've mentioned it a couple of times, but the graphics really impress.  They remind me of an Irem game - big, cartoonish, colorful and well-drawn.

There are (of course) power-ups, many of which come from increasing your power via collecting the blue gems that are omnipresent.  The bottom of the screen tells you about your arm and your overall power level.

Play Eco Fighters and save the world from ecological disaster - even if you don't, you'll have fun trying.

Game of the Day - Samurai Aces

As you plow through great, latter-day vertical shooters, it can become a little hard to distinguish between them.  Samurai Aces (aka Sengoku Ace) which was the first effort from the great developer Psikyo, is known to me as the shmup with great graphics and baby heads.

No, apparently they aren't really baby heads, they are bald samurai heads - but they sure look like big, fat baby heads to me.

And despite that, the graphics are very enjoyable and thoroughly entertaining.  There are japanese villages, giant robots, buddhas, giant Speed Racer looking dudes and lots of cool stuff to go around.  The bombs you deploy are very cool, too.  Some are flowers, mechanical dudes, japanese symbols and other interesting stuff.

Speaking of bombs, you have two buttons to use along with the joystick in Samurai Aces.  They are fire and bomb - but you also have a charged shot if you hold the fire button down.

To begin the game you choose from six cool and interesting characters.  Each has a unique set of weapons (shot, charged shot and bomb) and each one's power-ups are tailored to their weapons.  Unlike some other games, power-ups only last for a preset amount of time and have to be re-upped when the next power-up comes along.

Samurai Aces' controls are very smooth and very responsive.  The controls, along with the fun look of the enemies and weaponry are what make Samurai Aces a cut above many other similar games of the time.  Yes, it's just another great vert shooter, but hey, it's another great vert shooter.

Dress Like Chun-Li

Found this on Etsy.  The seller only has 5 items for sale and this is one of them.  For $460 you can dress your honey (or yourself, no judgment here) like Chun-Li.

Or, instead, you can purchase the upcoming Street Fighter X Tekken and pocket the other $400 (and wear your jeans to Comic-Con).  Your choice.

 

http://www.etsy.com/listing/91991029/chun-li-cosplay-costume

Game of the Day - Metal Saver

Metal Saver is a weird maze-shooter that combines a few genres in order to bring home the fun.  You choose between a dude and a chick and fight your way thru single screen sized levels of platforms, elevators and conveyor belts - blasting bugs, sea life and other crap of all shapes and sizes as you go.

You have three buttons that function slightly different depending on the character you choose.  One for attack, one for alternate (stronger) attack, and one to jump.  The guy starts with punch and kick as his attacks, the chick has a gun and can drop bombs (on a 5 second delay).  The bombs are important because many of the enemies are too short to be hit by the gunfire (you can't crouch).  All these things can be powered-up...  The punches, kicks and artillery all become stronger (flamethrower, anyone?).  In fact, there are power-ups and bonus thingies everywhere - and I do mean everywhere.  Especially when you finish a stage.  When you do, gazillions of bonuses and power-ups are tossed all over the screen and it is your job to get as many as you can before time is up and you progress to the next stage.

The rounds also have a time limit.  Exceed it and a giant metal hand comes down from above trying to grab you and carry you off (kill you).  You can still play/finish the round if you are able to avoid the big, fat hand.

As I mentioned before, there is also a puzzle element as the stages become more complex as you go.  Conveyor belts, elevators and other mechs dictate how you have to traverse the screen.  All while blasting the baddies.  And speaking of baddies, there are stages with bosses - at the end of each "world" - about every 5 stages.  The bosses can be difficult and usually have sidekicks.  The first boss is a giant spider that spews forth babies that attack you - she also spins webs at you.  Get caught in a web and it takes some work to shake it off.

In order to honor another genre (fighting), they have added some special moves.  You can do occasional super moves and certain combos... some make your attacks stronger and some function as blocks.  I'd tell you more about the combos but (a) it's more fun to figure out yourself and (b) I don't know how I invoked half of them.

So Metal Saver is a Maze/Platform/Shooter/Fighter.  Odd but definitely fun.  As far as what the name "Metal Saver" means... Hell if I know. 

Game of the Day - SD Gundam Neo Battling

I'm tired just typing the name of today's GOTD, so from now on it's Neo.  Neo is a quasi-newer-Galaga-Cute-'em-Up with very cool weapons, fun graphics and very satisfying game play.

The gameplay is very straight-forward (one step ahead of old-school).  It's a vertical shooter in which you only have one button along with your joystick.  The button shoots, but also can be held down for a charged shot/super weapon attack.

Like Galaga, Galaga '88 and the multitude of imitators, the fun here is in how well programmed the game is.  The enemies attack from all directions, move smoothly AND jittery and come in many shapes and sizes.  Sometimes they gather in formation - Galaga style, and sometimes they just come at you in more of a dive-bomber, look-the-fuck-out kind of way.

The graphics are cutesy/cartoony and fun to watch.  In fact there are a gazillion power-ups/weapon types.  There are constantly things falling for you to shoot that turn into power-ups - so many that I still don't know what half of them do.  Many change your weapons, some power-up your weapon and others add to your shield.  Your shield is indicated near your score at the top.  They are essentially hit points that you get to absorb before you are killed.  Each life starts with 5 shield points.  As you take hits, you lose them, but you can find items to increase it again.

Another important attribute that makes the game good is the learning curve.  The first waves are easy - as you get used to the gig.  Later, craziness ensues and the screen is covered with crap you have to kill or avoid.  Level design changes over time and, in fact, there are levels where all you do is shoot power-ups in preparation for a boss attack.
Finally, on one other note, you'll see in the pics above that there is a character selection screen at the start.  There are 10 (that's right, 10) SD Gundams to choose from - all with slightly different skills and weapons.  Very cool.

Game of the Day - Ninja Spirit

I wish I could tell you more about Ninja Spirit.  It's a good-looking platform-ninja game with good weaponage.  The reason I can't tell you more is that it is so damned hard.  In fact, if you are prone to rage and frustration, just quit reading now because you do not want to play this game.  Ninja Spirit is one of only a couple of GOTDs (out of around 170) that I had to adjust the dip switch settings to make the game easier in order to progress a little for this review.

Anywho, it's great looking late 80s platformer where you, the ninja, are attacked by foes from every angle.  It reminds me of some of the great Super Nintendo games of the 90s.  You start with 4 different weapons available (ninja stars, sword, etc), and one of your three buttons is used to select between them at any time.  All of the weapons can be powered-up and they change significantly when they are.  One of the fun aspects of the game is to see what the weapon does and looks like when you power it up.  Some weapons add to your defense.  For instance, when the sword is powered-up in a certain way, you can use it to deflect enemy fire.  The best power ups create your "spirit" which are clones of you that shadow/follow you and mimic your attacks.  It's a very effective tool.  It's also helpful that you can see in the little display of your weapons which ones have been powered up (it's at the bottom of the screen.
I mentioned three buttons.  They are attack, jump, change weapon.  The jump is really cool, too, because the longer you hold the button, the higher you jump.  This is highly important against certain enemies and in reaching all the power-ups.  I don't know how hard it is to program such a thing, but I'm surprised that more games of this era didn't do this.  In fact, in later levels, there is much more height/elevation/jumping, so a mastery of how high to jump comes in very handy.

Yeah, there are bosses, but compared to the rest of the game, they are surprisingly easy.  But that's only relatively speaking, because in general, the game is very difficult.

If you haven't played N.S. before and play on normal/default settings and are able to advance through several levels, let me know, I'd like know who I am in awe of.

Trivia:  There are 38 games listed on KLOV that contain the word "Ninja".

GOTD Hall of Fame - Two Player "Versus" Games

It's fun to get to level 50 on Galaga or play Pac-Man for an hour, but not if you are playing two players... (unless the 2nd player needs some sleep or likes to read).  What's more fun is two player games where you go mano a mano with the other player.  Not cooperatively shooting, or taking turns, but where your goal is to destroy the other player and have your victory reduce them to a sobbing sack of goo.

So here are the games that have already been Games of the Day that are especially fun because of the two player competition.  Some of them are VERY simple games but tons of fun nonetheless.  Obviously, EVERY good Vs. fighting game would fall into this hall of fame, but remember this is only for games that have already been GOTDs and I try to make those more obscure games, so you won't see any Street Fighters or Mortal Kombats here.

 1. Change Air Blade
The only vertical space shooter I know that is 2 player versus.
 2. Warlords
Classic breakout style fun versus other players and the CPU.
 3. Title Fight
Split Screen boxing with dual joystick controls.
 4. Hyper Athlete
A modern descendent of Track & Field with some very long events.
 5. Burglar X
Zany modern maze shooter - race the other player to collect coins - winner play alone.
 6. Off the Wall
Pong meets Breakout with lots of ingenuity.
 7. Blasted
Split-screen Cross-Hair Shooter - you shoot at each other buildings.
 8. B.C. Story
Caveman Track & Field with witty use of controls and goofy cartoons.
 9. Squash
Simple racquetbally goodness.
10. Hat Trick
One on One (plus goalie) hockey fun.
11. Block Hole
It's kind of a split screen tetris-y shooter.  Very addictive.
12. Klax
Classic puzzle game - funner with 2 folks.
13. Star Guards
Cool controls - old schoolish - Winner of each round gets bonuses and power-ups.
14. Heavy Smash
Updated version of Speedball - kinda like football meets hockey meets rugby.
15. Bang Bead
A modern twist on Pong.  Two opposite players whip the ball at each other.
16. Xybots
Early Split-screen Doom-type game - Hardest I ever laughed playing a game.
17. Beastorizer
Precursor to Bloody Roar - Change into your animal and fight.
18. Plasma Sword
Cool 3D fighting with lots of characters.
19. Super Gem Fighter Mini-Mix
Child-Mutant versions of classic fighters and many cool twists.

Game of the Day - Xybots

Playing Xybots is the hardest I ever laughed while playing an arcade game.  It is one of my all-time favorite games, I have owned a dedicated cabinet Xybots forever.  But the fun is exponentially multiplied when you play with two people.

Xybots is very unique.  It is a 3rd person action-oriented dungeon/maze shooter where you move around shooting robots and collecting $$$.  The controls on the arcade game were unusual also, you move with the joystick, twist it left or right to turn your avatar, and shoot with the fire button.  You also have a "zapper" which temporarily freezes everything on the screen.  In MAME, the left and right turns are not an analog setting (like caliber 50 or Forgotten Worlds) so you simply assign "turn left" to a button and "turn right" to another.  If you put the fire button in between them, it works out pretty well.

The goal of Xybots is to get thru each maze without your energy running out.  You have a very clear indication of how much remains at the top of the screen and as you move around and shoot, it decreases.  Of course it also decreases from enemy fire and collisions.  The main way to increase your energy is to get the little orange energy pods that are all around the maze.


An important feature of Xybots is the map at the top middle of the screen that shows the maze, you, your enemies, energy pods, exits, etc.  Since the mazes can be complex, you refer to the map often.  In later levels the map is hidden until you explore it OR until you purchase an upgrade that allows it to be unveiled.

Xybots also has one of the most extensive upgrade systems ever in a game.  You collect coins as you play, and at the end of each level, you are offered a large array of upgrades to make your avatar more effective.  The upgrades are all useful and it takes a while to decide which to add.  Also, you aren't offered all of them each time, the list of possible ones is very long.  To keep track of your upgrades, there is a matrix above your viewing screen showing you each upgrade and what level it's been powered up to.  Some upgrades are...faster running, more powerful shot,  faster moving shot, more powerful zapper, slower energy loss, map reveal, enemies on map reveal, energy upgrade, etc.

There, are so many details, it's hard to cover them all...  For instance, in addition to the % energy display, you also have a light on your back that turns yellow and then red to warn you that your energy is low. AND, in addition, there is this GREAT background heartbeat kind of sound that gets faster and more intense as your energy decreases.  It's one of the best audio indicators/clues in the history of gaming.

The mazes themselves are pretty complex and drastically different from one another.  Sometimes there are many diff exits.  Sometimes there are hidden rooms that you can shoot your way into.  There are many keys to collect to open various parts of the maze.  There are also teleporting pods - some that move your thru the maze and some that warp you to higher levels.

Okay, so all that being said, I haven't mentioned why it makes me laugh so hard and what is the funnest part...   Xybots is a split-screen game and is much funner when played with another player.  At first you only play cooperatively and your gunfire cannot harm one another.  As you progress into later levels, that changes and your fire can harm the other player.  Sooner or later, regardless of your resolve to play cooperatively and kill the robots to end the level, every game descends into a mano a mano fight between the two players.  Chasing and sneaking around the maze, flitting around corners and blasting one another to kingdom come.  It's a lot like playing paintball at this point (and the robots are still trying to kill you, too).  It's fast and fun and the game is awesome.  Play it if you haven't, but make sure at some point to play it with a friend.

The 2 player fun of Xybots reminds me that my next post will be the Hall of Fame of GOTDs that are great 2 player competitive/Vs. games.

Game of the Day - Ryu Jin

Space bugs, why did it have to be space bugs?  Ryu Jin is a very obscure vertical shooter from Taito in which you are attacked by all of Bugkind.  But they are mostly cool looking and colorful little suckers.  It's a pretty standard mid-90s vert shooter that's a lot of fun to play.

The graphics are very, very nice.  They are varied within the levels and more so from level-to-level.  They are very reliant on the backgrounds which are mostly uber bright and colorful.  Many times, in shooters like these, I don't like if the background has too much stuff or color because it makes it hard to see what's going on - this is not the case in Ryu Jin, somehow they tread the fine line and the backgrounds just make it more interesting and fun to look at without muddying the gameplay.

You have some traditional controls in Ryu Jin, a fire button and a bomb button.  The fire button can be held down for a charged shot.  In fact, the charged shots wind up pretty darn similar to the bombs, so that's a little bit unimaginative.  But, one nice thing about charging up is that in addition to a gauge that shows you when your charged shot is ready, there is also a subtle audio cue.  Thus, you don't have to watch your gauge to know when to let go of the button, the audio lets you know sufficiently - that's a nice touch that makes the game a little easier.

You start with three "lives", but the lives aren't exactly used in the same way as most vert shooters.  There are indicators (blue blocks) of your lives (or hit points) in the lower left.  When you take a hit, one is subtracted but things continue just as they were in the game.  In most games of this era, you are "respawned" and given a new set of bombs when you die.  Not in Ryu Jin.  You simply have a life block taken away and keep fighting - so you can't count on a moment's rest or additional super weapons as compensation for dying.  So really, the lives function more like one continuous life force as in some other games.

There are some nice power-ups you'll find in the game, my favorite of which is "big".  Your ship gets big, powerful and temporarily indestructible.

Lastly, a feature that I like that I've mentioned before in other GOTDs is also employed here...  When you lose all your lives and choose to continue your game, the "ones" digit of your score is increased by one.  That way, when you look at the high score table, you simply have to look at the last digit to see how many continues were used in order to achieve the score.  Nice way to put the scores into perspective - especially with the giant scores that can be achieved when you don't have to jam quarters in the machines in the world of Mame.

Game of the Day - Salamander 2

Salamander 2 had slipped under my radar.  I had played it for a few moments during one of my "go find some new games" jags, but wasn't compelled for some reason.  Boy, was I wrong.  Sal2 now jumps way up my list of favorite vertical (and horz) shooters.

The coolest thing about Sal2 is the organic/living/gooey/yucky graphics.  They are part art, part cartoon and part quasi-photo-imagined.  Worms, eels, monsters and lots of slimy stuff of all kinds and colors attempt to gobble you up as you fly your ship thru an organic, living background that looks like something out of an Alien movie.

There are the traditional controls, shoot and bomb.  And the shot can be powered-up mightily.  What they do with the bombs is cool and a little different also...when you big up the blue and green (other color?) gel-based gems that float around, they begin encircling you.  These are your bombs and each time you use one, it charges up and explodes and then no longer orbits you.  However, what is really cool is that if you have multiple ones orbiting you, you can charge up your bomb by holding down the bomb button.  As you hold down the button, each gem in turn will charge up (it brightens and glows), you can charge any number of them or all of them.  Then, when you release the bomb button, the power of ALL the bombs you charged is unleashed - of course, this uses them up also, so it's time to go collect some more.
One annoying thing about the power-ups and bomb collection - each time you collect one, the game says "option".  It gets old quickly and there is no "option" to turn just that word off.

Speed is important and it is one of the power-ups, so collect it quickly, you'll need it.  I'm actually not a fan of games that use speed as a power-up, it's just too frustrating when you are slow.  And speaking of speed, you have to watch out for the landscape.  You can run into cave walls and things that appear to be background and die.  There were a few times I crashed when I didn't realize it was something to watch out for.  This is especially an issue in Sal2 because the background is so busy with cool stuff.  On the bright side, for a few moments when you are reincarnated, you are invincible.  Not just as far as taking hits, but you can use your ship to crash into the enemy and wipe them out en masse (like the old school game "Vanguard").

The last thing to point out (as I mentioned in the intro)... Salamander 2 is a vertical AND a horizontal shooter.  Both styles are done well although the art in the horz stages is a little more over the top while the horz stages are more space oriented with big planets type things and lots of fire.

Salamander 2 - where have you been?

Game of the Day - Toki

Toki is a fun platformer where you have been turned into some sort of ape (by the evil dude who stole your honey).  Time to go kick-ass and take names.

The weapon of choice in Toki is your spit.  Well, you spit something, although I'm not sure what it is.  As you power-up your spit, it becomes more deadly - there is a spread shot and it can turn into things like fire (no super-phlegm hocker, though).  You can also kill your enemies by jumping on their heads (just like real soldiers do in war).

There are lots of cute and fun touches that make Toki enjoyable.  First off, you can shoot in all directions, not just left or right or up - so diagonals beware!  Also, there are little puzzling elements like teeter-totters with weights that drop and big enemies that you can't see all of - so you don't necessarily know what you are shooting at.
On top of spitting, there is another button in use - jump.  Jumping is key for several reasons: you can jump on the enemies and kill them, you can jump to reach suspended power-ups and you need to jump onto platforms and over ditches to forge ahead.  Fortunately, there are power-ups for jumping, too.  Little sneakers can be picked up and put on which make you jump much higher.  They are REQUIRED to reach some of the elements and power-ups in the game.  Furthermore, there are other kinds of items you can get, one example being a football helmet (yes, it looks silly) - thus protecting you from an enemy attack.

I'm not a huge platformer fan, but Toki is a fun game that always has something new around the corner.  Apparently, if you successfully finish (I haven't), you rescue your girlfriend and turn back into a man.  I'd prefer to remain an ape.

World's Largest Pac-Man Maze has 79,271 Levels to Conquer

This is a web project that is totally cool.  It's the world's largest Pac-Man game.  Anyone can use the tools to create a level.  You click on any level to start playing and each time you leave the screen, it scrolls to a new and completely different maze.  The programmers are very much into statistics.  As you can see (click to enlarge) they keep track of total dots eaten (2 billion+), lives lost, ghosts eaten (more than 30 million), and much more.  And when you start playing, it keeps track of your individual stats.  In addition, stats by country are tracked, so far (no surprise) the U.S. has played the most, followed by Brazil.

Play it here....  http://worldsbiggestpacman.com/#-3,-1

Game of the Day - Bestri

Okay, so I like weird games.  Bestri is a Breakout/Arkanoid type game with some sort of weird organic thing acting as the paddle.  It's colorful, inventive and challenging and really odd.

In Bestri, you use the joystick (as opposed to a dial or paddle) to control the left and right movement and have a button to jump (as well as a button to launch the ball).  That's correct, jump.  You see there are many, and I do mean MANY different types of power-ups and hidden bonuses to collect in Bestri and jumping is the way you get most of them.  What happens is that when your ball (after being hit by you, the paddle) collides with certain bricks or characters they release these power-ups and other items.  The power-ups then hover just above your paddle, wiggling up and down and back and forth - essentially teasing you like your older cousin at Thanksgiving.  So you have to jump to collect them.  In the meantime, the ball is still bouncing around, so you can't lose sight of maneuvering underneath it to make sure you hit it.  In fact, if you jump as you are hitting the ball, that impact makes the ball travel faster/farther.

The level design is interesting, there are tons of widely varying screens.  One interesting aspect of play is that all adjacent bricks of the same color disappear when you hit them.  So screens that look full of bricks actually disappear pretty quickly when you hit one brick and a whole block of colors goes bye-bye.

Ball and paddle action aside, this game is all about all the unusual things that happen while you are playing.  The ball changes, the bricks change, the paddle dude gets bigger & smaller... you get the idea.  There are lots of little cartoon characters roaming the screen you can hit, and I have absolutely no idea what you get for that or what they do when you hit them - the game is from Korea, and I am not.

Bestri is a VERY obscure game, there is almost no info about it on the web, KLOV or CAESAR.  That's some of the reason I don't know more about what is happening with the details of the gameplay.

But, ignorance is bliss - It's good fun and a nice change of pace from shooting spaceships and airplanes all day.

Game of the Day - Eightman

Eightman is a fun side-scrolling fighter with lots of style and a few unusual tricks.

First, I have to mention that I like the look.  The graphics are in a comic-book superhero style.  They aren't as crisp as previous GOTD "The Punisher", but remind me of that game a lot.  The visuals when you run and attack add to the nice look of the game.

You have three buttons.  The first button is punch OR kick and is context sensitive.  How you attack will depend on the enemy, the positioning and how fast you button mash. The other buttons are jump and bomb.  Additionally, pushing the A and B buttons together is a special attack (jump/spin/punch/kick).

But Eightman tries to one-up the genre but having gameplay that isn't just straight fighting.  In the second level (and others down the line) you are running full speed (not in your control) and the game plays much more like a horizontal shooter than a fighting game.  Enemies approach you from all sides and fade in from anywhere while you have to essentially line them up in your path and blast them.  It's a little strange to control and interpret who and how to attack.  Since you are running full-out, all you can do is jump and crouch to affect where you are aiming.  Also, the enemies that come from the bottom and the sides aren't really in your path 'til they move around you a little and get in front of you.  It is a completely unique kind of play and takes a little getting used to.

But that's not all.  On the 3rd level (and future levels), Eightman tries hard to add in some more jumping and exploring.  While you are still fighting enemies, there are a lot more ramps, platforms and other obstacles to jump and time your approach to, making it much more like a platform game.

All the while there are many power-ups.  Some make your punch/kick attacks stronger or turn them into weapon attacks.  Some upgrade and add to your bombs.  There is also the "8" (as in Eightman).  It floats around and when you obtain it your attack is giganta-mongo-betty-rific.

Eightman tries to be lots of things for lots of different gamers and succeeds well at most of it.  Crank it up and beat a few heads.