Condemned: Criminal Origins
Its been a while guys, sorry about that. Life sometimes interferes, but there is lots more horror goodness I haven't yet shared that needs to be played, both retro and not. And in this case, this games not...though admittedly it might as well be due to its release date.
Condemned: Criminal Origins was developed by Monolith Productions and published by Sega, releasing to the masses as a Microsoft Xbox 360 launch title. Actually, that is not entirely accurate. Condemned actually preceded the 360s release, coming out on Nov. 15, 2005, which means its older than the oldest console in this generation (the 360s official launch date was Nov. 22, 2005, in the US). Of all the 360 launch titles, this was the one that generated the biggest personal interest and was my first game purchase on the console, though admittedly I bought the machine specifically for Dead Rising. I'm glad I picked up Condemned by itself, as I managed to give it the time it truly deserved.
Condemned is an interesting approach to the traditional survival horror. While it visits the same dark locales and features what is effectively a supercop as the main protagonist a la Resident Evil, this guys a little different. Ethan Thomas is tough, has highly 'acute senses, and goes after a particularly disturbing type of criminal: serial killers. Ethans disturbingly good at this, but it seems it comes with a price that Ethan doesn't even know must be paid, and his life is not exactly as it appears. Early on in the game he finds himself up against a similar individual on the other side of the law, a super serial killer labeled only Serial Killer X who hunts his own kind and kills them based upon their own methods. Unfortunately for Ethan, X gets the drop on him, steals his gun, kills two cops with it, and knocks Ethan out a window before escaping. Ethan wakes up in his apartment with family friend Malcolm Vanhorn, who warns Ethan that hes now wanted for the murder of those policemen.
So Ethan must now evade the police, take down X, and prove his innocence. To do that, he'll have to crawl through every nasty back alley and condemned building in the city while hunting for evidence. Sounds simple, right? But there are a couple of problems: it seems the city's homeless are becoming increasingly violent while creatures and events are beginning to appear around him which are twisted enough to make Ethan question his sanity.
While the plot gives a reason for all of the bizarre occurrences and gives a reason for the hordes of angry and freakish individuals you'll find literally bludgeoning each other to death with whatever they can find, its unfortunately not very coherent. Ethan has some similar qualities with the character Will Graham from Thomas Harris book Red Dragon. In Red Dragon, its hinted that Graham might easily have become the same type of monster that he hunts so easily; Ethan suffers a similar problem. The issue comes in presentation: much of the story goes unexplained unless the player bothers to read the loading screens between levels and manages to piece them all together. And even then there are several important points which the game never quite gets out, such as exactly what the character known only as The Hate actually is or where it came from. It takes the sequel to really find out whats happening, and the sequel, well, that's a discussion for another day. There are scenes where Ethan has to use his police equipment to investigate crime scenes, but as per the norm with television forensics units, it happens absurdly quick and relatively easily. Its a nice little touch that helps break up the action, but its not very realistic, so if this happens to be a pet peeve of yours about police dramas, you've been warned.
Anyway, Condemned: Criminal Origins features a very different perspective from most survival horror titles; its entirely first person, though not a true FPS. While you do find guns, they're few and far between, are limited to the amount of ammunition you find in them, but are also realistically powerful. Some enemies also carry guns, which are subject to the same rules. Fight an enemy with a revolver who fires off two shots, and the gun will come with only 4 rounds. Ethan does have a handy rechargeable taser, but its primarily for stunning and does little damage. Still, its great for thinning a crowd. Most combat revolves around melee, and Ethan's quite resourceful, so he makes a point of arming himself with just about anything he can find: locker doors, old signs, sledgehammers, mannequin arms, metal pipes, fire axes, loose boards, paper cutter blades (a particular favorite of mine), electric conduits, if it can be pried off the wall and used to bash in someones skull, Ethan is willing to use it.
But then again, so will the hordes of enemies between him and the truth. Enemies will break off a fight long enough to pry a board or rip off a street sign to beat down you or each other with. The AIs actually not bad, with enemies taunting you, breaking off to run away when hurt, and hiding in corners or behind doorways while they wait for you to pass so they can ambush you. In one particularly fun but scripted scene, a bum charges you from behind with a monkey wrench, and you only see him coming because you're looking at a bathroom mirror at the time.
To add to the combat, while there's no combo system, there is an execution system, which involves grabbing an opponent who has fallen to his knees and using whatever you have to smash in his face, snap his neck, or whatever else you happen to do. It even zooms in on their faces so you have to look them in the eyes before you curb stomp them. Its not a pleasant feeling.
Condemned is also very dark and dreary. There really aren't very many clean locales you'll visit, instead hitting up subways and sewers, a dilapidated school, an old house out in the country, or even my particularly favorite level, an abandoned shopping mall that's been overrun by squatters which dress like mannequins so they can get the drop on you from store displays. Its a terrifying feeling to walk into a display room and see one obviously bating you at the far end, because you can't be sure which mannequins in the room are real, and which ones are murderers pretending so they can lash out at you from behind.
There are also unlockables, based on messing with TV sets and collecting bird corpses and metal plates stuck to the wall and surrounded by charcoal drawings of eyes starring at you. It adds replayability to the game, which is good as its not too terribly long.
I had a lot of fun with Condemned: Criminal Origins, and when I am asked about modern survival horror, its always a title I heartily recommend. The controls are excellent, the combat felt quite good once I got the hang of it, and the environments were solidly put together and delightfully creepy. But it is not easy to get through at times, with its convoluted and mishandled plot, unrealistic forensics, and its overemphasis of violence. The game was actually so violent, it has since been banned in Germany, with all copies confiscated. Seriously, its illegal to possess or sell it, similar to Manhunt 2 in New Zealand. For the rest of us, its thankfully pretty cheap, generally going for less than $10 on eBay.
For those interested, here's a taste, the intro video from the level Bart's Department Store:
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/QKbY15uUdyM&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/QKbY15uUdyM&rel=0</a>]]>
DARK CAVERN
Specs:
Game: Dark Cavern
Year: 1982
Publisher: M-Network
Developer: APh Technology Consultants for Mattel Electronics
Designer(s)/Programmer: Hal Finney
Rarity (according to AtariAge): 2 = common+
Controls: Joystick
Number of Players: 1
Average Cost: $1 - $3 loose, under $10 CIB
Also Available On: Dark Cavern is exclusive to the 2600, its predecessor, Night Stalker is available on Intellivision, Mattel Aquarius, Apple II, and IBM PC.
Tagline/Description: "It's a battle for survival in an underground cavern! You have five men.
They enter the cavern one at a time through the center trap door. Once inside, blobs, spiders and robots begin to enter the left and right doors. Direct your man down the tunnels. Pick up ammunition as you go. Keep clear of the creatures... avoid robot fire. Shoot to destroy! Get hit by a robot's bullet... action stops. Now bring out your next man... get them before they get you!!!"
As soon as you pop in a copy of Dark Cavern and hit the power switch, it may seem very familiar and rightfully so. Dark Cavern was published by the M-Network, a subsidiary of Mattel Electronics.......hmmm. Mattel Electronics? The same company who developed the Intellivison, one of Atari's biggest competitors? Yes. So why would a company like Mattel Electronics create games for their more successful rival and undercut their own system? Sure, money has a lot to do with it, but more interesting is the history behind it all.
What the Mattel is Going on Here?*
(*a special thanks to IntellivisionLives.com for providing information used in this time-line)
-- Atari released in 1977, Richard Chang head of Design and Development for Mattel Toys looks to create game system to compete with the 2600.
-- Glenn Hightower of APh Technology Consulting is sought out to develop what would later become the Intellivision (1980).
-- Hightower soon realized that he had struck a bad deal with Mattel (his team was receiving less than $30k per developed game and no royalties) and asked his senior developers to take a leave of absence from Mattel and became private contractors employed by Hightower (not APh).
-- These private contractors reverse engineered programs for the 2600, and created working prototypes.
-- Hightower negotiated with Mattel and told them of an outside group he knew who could program for the 2600 and presented the economically beneficial idea to them; the Atari 2600 had over 10 million consoles in U.S. homes, while the Intellivision had only 2 million.
-- Atari 2600 games were introduced under the guise of M-Network and even many of the titles of Intellivision counterparts were changed so they would not reflect badly on Mattel's graphically superior system (Night Stalker changed to Dark Cavern, Astrosmash/Astroblast, Frog Bog/Frogs 'n Flies, etc.). Games like Burger Time, Lock 'n Chase, and Bump 'n Jump retained their titles since they were developed by Data East.
-- Games for the 2600 were shaped almost identical to Intellivision cartridges; a special adapter was added to the end of each Atari cartridge to make it compatible with that system (see comparison below).
 
While Dark Cavern and Night Stalker are very similar on the surface, there are several features (both good and bad) that separate the former from the latter. The first thing you will probably notice are the graphics. Night Stalker looks much better and best exemplifies the setting of the game, which helps to create a more accurate atmosphere. The walls of the cave are covered with stalactites and stalagmites, there is a large spiderweb in the upper left hand corner of the screen, enemies leave a lot less to the imagination, and your protagonist moves in a more fluid, human-like motion. However, what makes Dark Cavern distinct, and in opinion better, is the game play.
Enemies and their traits play an important role in both the 2600 and Intellivision versions of this game. In Dark Cavern (like Night Stalker), your goal is to destroy as may robots as possible by dispatching them with your laser. Ammunition is in limited supply and can be collected by picking up a gun icon that appears on the screen. Dispatching a robot in Dark Cavern earns you 1000 points, and if there are other robots on the screen, you are awarded an additional 1000 points for their eradication for destroying them before a robot is replaced (i.e. the first robot = 1000 pts., second = 2000 pts., third = 3000 pts., and so on). Though robots look more like.......well, robots, in Night Stalker, an important difference in Dark Cavern is that the robots have eyes which point toward the direction of which they are moving (instead of remaining stationary). This addition to Dark Cavern can be very helpful in determining an attack strategy and possibly even earning your character a kill by attacking safely from behind.
In Dark Cavern, blobs take the place of the immobilizing bats present in Night Stalker; though blobs and spiders are not worth any points if destroyed, they play an important part in the game play. Running into a spider will not cause you to lose a life, but instead paralyzes your character for a few seconds and allows robots to get to them. Blobs can be passed through without harm, however, by doing so you lose all of your bullets. This additional challenge, though seemingly small, plays a big role in the gameplay of Dark Cavern and in a pinch, shooting or passing through a blob may be an important decision when it comes to saving a life.
Another significant difference between Dark Cavern and Night Stalker are the controls. While your character's movement might be best described as stop-and-go in the latter, in Dark Cavern, movement is continuous and can only be stopped by running into the cavern walls (similar to Pac-Man). Not only does this present an added challenge to the game, but I would argue that it makes control of the game a lot better. Since motion is fluid and what I would term "rounded," it eliminates the possibility of changing direction and getting stuck on overhanging walls, as can happen as a result of the precision you have to use with many stop-and-go titles.
The sound effects in Dark Cavern aren't anything special, but they are entertaining and efficient overall. The replay value is high for such a simplistic game and the price point is outstanding. If you are a fan of Night Stalker and are also collecting for the 2600 (or vice-versa), Dark Cavern is a cheap and worthy pickup.
Dark Cavern (2600)
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/LTiWt5LaLDw&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/LTiWt5LaLDw&rel=0</a>]]>
**video courtesy of AtariGuide.com
Night Stalker (Intellivision)
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/bIse4mgl12I&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/bIse4mgl12I&rel=0</a>]]>
**video courtesy of Umma6umma
RATINGS (on a scale of 1-4: 4 being the highest):
Controls: 4
Graphics: 2
Sound Effects/Music: 3
Concept: 3
Replay Value: 3
Cart/Box Art: 2
Overall Score: 2.83
 
Mega Man X was one of my absolute favorite SNES games. I don't think there's much need to explain that really. It successfully took everything awesome about the NES games and actually made it feel futuristic with its new 16-bit appearance. It introduced a highly detailed Mega Man, now known as X (duh) who not only looked awesome but who could now cling to walls, do a fast dash, and maybe most importantly could throw a Hadoken fireball. For these reasons, and many others Mega Man X remained a staple of my SNES-playing for a very long time. And when the Mega Man X Collection was released for Playstation 2 and GameCube, I was sure to seek out a copy immediately.
But what's interesting is that although many sequels of varying quality were released as part of the X series, the original and wonderful Mega Man X was never forgotten. Instead, it received two re-releases on portable consoles. Both of which were complete reinventions of the game, made to re-imagine the game with the actual handheld hardware in mind.
  
Mega Man Xtreme was released in 2001 for the Game Boy Color. It was the first of two Xtreme games released for the GBC that year. However where the second game was a completely original title that took full use of the GBC's new upgraded hardware, the first game was actually a backwards compatible GBC cart. This meant that although it was colorized, it still ran on the more primitive Game Boy hardware as well. Knowing this reveals just how impressive this demake really is. Essentially this a port of a SNES game to hardware less capable than the NES. Though the resolution is surely lower, the game really looks as good, or better than most NES Mega Man titles. The controls are a bit of a mixed bag, as they are sufficient, but certainly not as smooth as the SNES original.
In fairness it should be pointed out that this is not an apples-for-apples conversion of Mega Man X. Although it's very closely based on the original game, it also used bits and pieces of X2 along with a mish-mash of music. In theory it's actually a bit similar to the Game Boy Mega Man games that would combine bits from several of the NES releases to make a new game. Extras include unlockable levels and characters, which definitely add to the merits of another playthrough for fans of the X series. Though it's far from perfect, it's really a damn fine 8-bit portable Mega Man. Maybe it shouldn't be remembered quite as fondly as say the Game Boy's Mega Man V, but it certainly should not be forgotten either.
 
Five years later Capcom released another remake, Mega Man X: Maverick Hunter for the PSP. Unlike the toned down version on the GBC, this one would be completely rebuilt from the ground up to show off the capabilities of the PSP and see what the game would have looked like had it been released all these years later. The game features polygons instead of sprites, full dialogue instead of text boxes, and the addition of anime cutscenes to help the story's momentum. And although none of these new features seem necessary, the game continues to grow on me.
For instance, though I'll always prefer sprites over polygons, I can't help but be a bit taken aback by the intricate details that were put into the backgrounds. Though spoken dialogue can be a drag, it is kind of fun to hear these back-and-forth's betwixt X and his enemies. And to be totally honest, the anime scenes are really quite beautiful. Though I won't for a second say that I would prefer the PSP version over the original SNES game, I can certainly recommend it for fans of the series looking for a new and interesting way to experience it. Although I assume the real target demographic were younger gamers who may not have the same fondness for 2D sprites.
What's this? A new Treasure Hunt Chronicles? It feels like its been ages since I last posted one of these. Last year was a little mixed for me, I had the single largest haul of my life (and most likely will never get so many games at once ever again) but I only had eight Treasure Hunt Chronicle posts. I had to quit treasure hunting early last year due to a huge research project and school in general sucking up all my time. But that's all done, and I'll hopefully be able to get back into garage saling full time. I'll be graduating in the Spring, and working an internship until then, so I'll most likely be limited to Saturdays only for garage saling from now, instead of any day there is a garage sale, so I'll have to work extra hard on the days that I do get to go saling.
Continue reading Treasure Hunt Chronicles 2011 - #1
TAPPER
Specs:
Game: Tapper
Year: 1984
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Bally-Midway Manufacturing Co., Inc.
Designer(s): Marvin Glass
Rarity (according to AtariAge): 6 = rare+
Controls: Joystick
Number of Players: 1 - 2 (turn based)
Average Cost: currently, usually $10 - $30 loose, depending on condition
Also Available On: Arcade cabinet, Atari 8-bit, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, PC, Mobile phone, Xbox 360 (XBLA); also released in the compilation "Midway Arcade Treasures" for PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, and the PC.
Tagline/Description:
"Side-splitting, soda-flinging laughs and spills!
The Official Home Version of Bally/Midway's Arcade Sensation.
Five belly-busting screens of Soda Fountain Fun, including:
-- Four mad-capped barrooms of soda-starved, clamoring cowboys, sports fans, punks, and space creatures.
-- Plus a head-spinning Soda Bandit Bonus Round
Awesome color-packed action graphics.
Just try to keep your cool as hot-headed, crazy customers blitz your bar for another cold one."
In Tapper, you control a beer tapper (bartender) and have to serve beer to demanding customers. Customers shuffle up the four bars toward your beer taps and you must slide them drinks in order to keep them satisfied and make them go away. You start out with 5 lives and these lives are lost as follows: (1) if a bar patron reaches the end of the bar without receiving their beer, (2) if you slide an extra beer when there is no customer and accidentally spill beer needlessly, and (3) if a patron throws you back an empty mug and you fail to catch it. You can score additional points by competing in a bonus round between every few stages. In these bonus rounds, a masked bandit creeps into the bar and shakes up all but one, of six available cans. The cans then flip around in a shell-game fashion and you must keep your eye on the one that was not shaken. You then select the can you deem undisturbed and the bartender opens it; if you are correct, you are awarded bonus points, if you are wrong, the tapper receives a heady bath.
Tapper was originally a coin-op machine marketed in conjunction with Budweiser and intended to be sold only to bars; many of the cabinets were designed to look like bars with a brass rail footrest and drink holders. The controller was designed to look like the tap handles on a real keg (see photos below). It's also rumored that digitized belches were also recorded, but never used. In order to broaden their target market (and to not lure the kiddies toward the "sauce"), Bally/Midway created coin-op cabinets and tabletops known as Root Beer Tapper. The Atari 2600 version is simply called Tapper, which apparently leaves it up to the consumer, or pre-video game advisory warning parents, to determine which frothy beverage bar patrons are actually chugging in game. However, in between clearing a few stages there is a bonus stage, brought to you courtesy of your good friends at Mountain Dew. It's not clear whether or not Tapper on the 2600 was trying to "C.I.A." by employing the soda company's logo, but by doing so, the ad's presence resulted in one of the earliest examples of marketing within a video game.
 
Tapper is a great game and probably one of the best ports to the Atari 2600. Not only is the concept original and the gameplay simple and attractive, but the sound effects and music (yes, actual music on a 2600 game) are wild west saloon-like and second to none. The graphics are as good as they can be due to the limitations of the system and all characters and settings are well defined and recognizable. My only real knock on this game is the controls. You use the joystick to move the tapper up and down, while using the orange button to fire off brewskies. Like many other 2600 games, Tapper is hampered by the rough and often rigorous directional tapping of the joystick. Because the action is so fast paced, and gets even quicker as you progress through multiple stages, the 2600 joystick cannot keep up and it often results in a few misfired mugs. One would do well in achieving higher scores by obtaining a European CX78 controller and popping this game into the ole 7800.
Even though the controls can be a bit sticky, Tapper is still one of the best games for the 2600. Though the rarity and price point make it a harder game to come by, you can easily snag a loose copy at a good deal with a last minute, no reserve auction bid. No matter what price you pay due to condition or completeness, Tapper will be one of those games that you will be proud to own.
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/_5jCputTLFs&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/_5jCputTLFs&rel=0</a>]]>
**video courtesy of Hairman9252
RATINGS (on a scale of 1-4: 4 being the highest):
Controls: 2
Graphics: 4
Sound Effects/Music: 4
Concept: 4
Replay Value: 3
Cart/Box Art: 4
Overall Score: 3.50
We have a new episode out with our first interview. This is another first for us, both on our delivery and for the recording itself. Please let us know if you had any issues actually hearing anything as well as any topic suggestions, interview suggestions, or anything else you want us to talk about in the locations below.
The Episode:
- 0:00: Intro
- 0:57: ReddMcKnight Interview
- 7:39: What's New on Channel 3?
- 8:32: Gaming News
- 26:52: Gaming Shoutout!/I'm Sorry...
- 36:50: Top 5
- 37:40: Outro
You can comment in the forums, comment in this blog post, e-mail us, and even call us. We hope to be able to take your quick questions over any subject via e-mail at podcast@rfgeneration.com. You can also call us and leave a message! We can play your question or comment in the episode and we'll even respond to it! That number is (318) RFG-TIP5 or (318) 734-8475.
Here is the forum thread to comment: http://www.rfgeneration.c...m/index.php?topic=10730.0
The podcast, as usual, can be found and subscribed at http://rfgeneration.podomatic.com as well as in iTunes!
The Together Retro game club at http://Racketboy.com spent January playing through Riviera: The Promised Land, which gave me an excuse to finally put some serious time into the GBA version which had been sitting on my shelf collecting dust for far too long. First: a bit of history. Riviera is the first title in a five-game series collectively referred to as Dept. Heaven. So far only the second (Yggdra Union) and fourth (Knights In The Nightmare) entries in the series have been released alongside this one.
Riviera was developed by Sting Entertainment, who are well-known for creating interesting mash-ups of genres, especially within the Dept. Heaven games. Although it's easiest to refer to Riviera as an RPG, there's actually a lot of other elements that are also present from other genres. The game also plays against the confines of the stereotypical RPG conventions. The biggest difference is that there is very little flexibility to the progression of the story. The plot is extremely linear, and feels a bit closer to a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure than a Final Fantasy. Though in a sense there's a certain simplicity to Riviera that's akin to the infamous SNES release Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest. Though whereas Mystic Quest's goal in being basic was to act as a gateway to more complicated RPG's, Riviera tends to use restrictions to focus on really thinking ahead. For instance you can bring three characters into battle, but you can only bring four items including weapons. If you want to bring a healing item or something other than a weapon, then an option may be to have two characters learn to use the same weapon, though all items including weapons have a limited number of uses. These sort of gameplay restrictions can be either awesomely challenging or extremely frustrating, depending on which camp you're in.
(Note: some content after the jump may be considered slightly NSFW. You've been warned.)
Continue reading Riviera: The Promised Land
SPECS:
Game: Space Cavern
Year: 1981
Publisher: Apollo, Inc.
Developer: Apollo, Inc.
Designer: Dan Oliver
Rarity (according to AtariAge): 3 = scarce
Controls: Joystick
Number of Players: 1 -2 (turn-based)
Average Cost: approx $1 - $5 loose
Also Available On: exclusive to the Atari 2600
Tagline/Description: "You command an intergalactic starcruiser that has landed on a mysterious planet riddled with smokey caverns and inhabited by savage Electrosauri whose horns generate deadly electro-molecular charges. The Elecrosauri stalk you, their horns crackling and sizzling. If even one blast of energy strikes you, your skeleton will glow as you disintegrate. Warning: Beware the shaggy marsupods [last sentence added for blue cartridge version only]."
Space Cavern is a very simple space shooter created by Apollo Games. Apollo only officially released 10 games for the 2600, which does not include three (3) unreleased prototypes and an original (and very rare) version of Shark Attack called Lochjaw, that was removed early on from the shelves due to a lawsuit claiming that it's title was too similar to the movie "Jaws." Two versions of Space Cavern exist, a red box/cartridge and a blue box/cartridge. Neither version is more rare than the other, the blue version was released by Apollo later only as a means of cutting costs by using a simpler and more cost-effective color palate.
Unlike the more popular Atari space shooters, in Space Cavern, you do not control a ship fending off enemy starships in outer space, but instead, command laser wielding astronauts who have crash landed on an alien planet. Sounds cool right? Well, that's certainly the draw. Apollo was masterful in their marketing; if you don't believe me, take a look at the cover art for such super lackluster games as Lost Luggage, Infiltrate, or Final Approach (heck yeah a game about landing planes). I mean what early 80's video game playing kid wouldn't want to buy Space Cavern after seeing it in the store? Badass cover art - check! Cool description - check! Being hit by deadly "electro-molecular charges" and disintegrating - I don't even know what the hell those are, but DOUBLE CHECK!!!! The reality is that Space Cavern isn't all that great, but for an Atari fiend like me, it isn't all that bad either.
(Apparently someone took out their frustrations for being duped by this game.)
There are three (3) enemies that commonly fill the sky of Space Cavern and they are collectively called Electrosauri; however in my adolescence, they were affectionately named: egg beaters, toilets, and scissors -- I'll let you figure out which enemies fit these descriptions. By pressing the orange button, your astronaut fires his laser into the sky and is awarded 115 points (wow, random) for each Electrosauri he/she shoots down. These particular enemies are fairly colorful and typically either bounce in an up and down pattern or diagonally across the screen. When you zap one, they change to a pale blue and actually fall from the sky, which is pretty creative. After 20,000 points, smaller and much harder to hit versions of Electrosauri appear in the sky; at each 20,000 points you are also awarded an extra life.
The only other enemy in the game is the Marsupod (200 points each), which are dull gray in color and come out of the caves from the left and right corners of the screen. Since the orange button only allows you to fire into the sky, your must press the joystick up or down (up = left: down = right) to fire at and dispense with Marsupods - pushing the orange button to fire left to right is not necessary. Though you'll fire the wrong way several times, recovery time from firing is quick and becomes second nature after continued play.
There are 48 variations of gameplay, which can be set to adjust the number of participants, the number of Electrosauri that appear in the sky at one time (4 max), the presence of Marsupods, the random angles of enemy lasers, and the difficulty (i.e. speed of the enemies).
Space Cavern is tough to review, since I get a bit nostalgic when returning to play it (**see eggbeater, toilet, scissor discussion above). The controls are perfect for the 2600 system, since you only use the four (4) main directional positions on the joystick and the fire button. The sound effects are pretty good: shooting down an Electrosauri sounds like R2-D2 speaking in tongues and blasting a Marsupod is rather blunt and effective. There is really nothing that bad about this game, other than the replay value. Let's face it, there's not a whole lot going on in this game, and after about three to four rounds, you'll probably want to put it away if you are playing it alone. As far as Apollo releases are concerned, I'd put Space Cavern at the top with the Pac-Man clone, Shark Attack. If you're a serious collector, or just a casual 2600 gamer, the small price tag makes Space Cavern worth picking up.
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/uwOn_h-_Pow&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/uwOn_h-_Pow&rel=0</a>]]>
**video courtesy of Highretrogamelord89 (this video does not represent the more difficult setting which includes Marsupods) **
RATINGS (on a scale of 1-4: 4 being the highest):
Controls: 4
Graphics: 2
Sound Effects/Music: 2
Concept: 3
Replay Value: 2
Cart/Box Art: 4
Overall Score: 2.83
Specs:
Game: Entombed
Year: 1982
Publisher: U.S. Games
Developer: Western Technologies
Designer(s): Jeff Corsiglia & Tom Sloper
Rarity (according to AtariAge): 4 = scarce+
Controls: Joystick
Number of Players: 1 - 2
Average Cost: approx $3 - $8 loose
Also Available On: 2600 only
Tagline/Description: "You and your team of archeologists have fallen into the "catacombs of the zombies." There's no time to look around; these guys are after you, and they mean business! Your only salvation is that you have discovered the secret to the "make-break." Grab them, and you can break through walls when you get stuck, or create a wall behind you - if you are being chased. The longer you survive, the faster you have to move. Explore alone, or two archeologists can work together or compete in a frenzied trek through the catacombs."
There was probably no more diverse or stranger catalog of games than the fourteen (14) titles released by U.S. Games, a subsidiary of Quaker Oats (uhhhh....yeah), for the Atari 2600. Like several other companies (i.e. Purina, Johnson & Johnson, etc.), but with a larger volume than most, the Quaker Oats Company tried to cash in on the video gaming craze of the early 80's. Titles released by U.S. Games include:
Entombed;
Sneak n' Peek (a game of hide and seek);
Space Jockey (a horizontal, UFO shooter);
Word Zapper (a spelling shooter);
Commando Raid (a parachuting android shooter);
Eggomania (a Kaboom clone where you can fire back);
Piece o' Cake (a cake decorating game);
Picnic (a fly shooter);
Raft Rider (a river rafting game);
Gopher (a vegetable protecting game, similar to Activision's Oink!);
Squeeze Box (a prisoner trying to escape a constantly closing Tron MCP Cone);
Towering Inferno (a firefighting/rescue game);
M.A.D. (an improved version of Atlantis); and
Name This Game (an octopus shooter).
While some believe that a few of these games are among the worst titles for the 2600, I'd have to say that the overall catalog is pretty creative and solid (and fairly cheap). Where else can you fend off an octopus and fill your diving tank with air from a guy with long, flowing hair in a speed boat?
Entombed is another of these strange games in which you control an archeologist trying to escape a zombie-filled catacomb. While navigating a random, vertically scrolling maze, your only defense from zombies and dead end walls is an item referred to as a "make-break." A make-break allows you to knock down a square section of wall or place a similar section of wall in an open area to fend off zombies (similar to Lock n' Chase). However, make-breaks are not abundant and are collected 3 at-a-time in the form of side-to-side moving rectangles, throughout the maze. Scoring in Entombed, for the 1-player game, is determined by how deep into the maze your archeologist goes. You are awarded one point for making it through an undefined section of the maze; there are no treasures to collect or points for killing zombies. As you might have noticed, scoring is not one of the stronger features of this game.
Another poor feature of the game is it's graphics. Zombies, which should be very cool, instead look like arachnids, your archeologist is merely a semi-mobile stick figure, and the make-breaks are, well, just blocks (a hammer, or some sort of device would have been cooler). There is no music and the only sound effects are a series of extremely monotone beeps (only when zombies are near) and an electronic gurgle when you pick up a make-break.
With all of its faults, Entombed is a pretty good game (yeah, stick with me here). I remember loving this game as a kid and playing it every time I went to my neighbor's house. When I saw it in a pawn shop several months ago I grabbed it up quickly, even though it had a bit of label damage. So what is it that I liked so much about this game? Well for one, I enjoyed the pace of the game (how it continues to get faster as you complete every level) and the frantic dodging/escaping from zombies while collecting make-breaks to ensure mobility; you lose lives by either running into a zombie or by being forced into the top of the scrolling screen when you are out of make-breaks and are unable to escape a dead end. The controls are adequate for a 2600 game, since your only movements through the maze are vertical and horizontal; however, setting make-breaks correctly in open areas to avoid zombies can sometimes present a challenge.
While the originality of the game is great, the best feature of Entombed has to be its 2-player option. In two player mode, both participants play at the same time, instead of the Atari turn-based style that is typical with most 2600 games. Two player mode can be played in two different ways (as determined by the participants): (1) you can battle against each other to see who can make it deeper into the maze (whoever dies first loses), or (2) you can work with each other, hoarding and best using make-breaks, to see how far you both can go. Being somewhat of an a%$, and torturer of my wife and friends, I tend to prefer the former.
Though there is nothing particularly exceptional in terms of graphics and sound in Entombed, the gameplay is fairly solid and the cost of the game is typically low. For a few bucks, Entombed should be worth heavy consideration if found in the wild.
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/RkvkOfVHayE&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/RkvkOfVHayE&rel=0</a>]]>
**video courtesy of Highretrogamelord89**
RATINGS (on a scale of 1-4: 4 being the highest):
Controls: 3
Graphics: 2
Sound Effects/Music: 1
Concept: 3
Replay Value: 2
Cart/Box Art: 3
Overall Score: 2.34
Continue reading Unloved #?: Summer Carnival 92' Recca
You knew by the time I got to writing for my blog again, it'd be long-winded. So let's hope I get on a more regular writing schedule again so as not to store all this up...
Trials HD. Demon's Souls. The Etrian Odyssey series. Getting through New Super Mario Bros with four players and not strangling the person next to you.
Despite complaints along the lines of, "Video Games Today are Too Easy," there is still a consistent flow of releases earmarked specifically for their notable challenge. (Not counting the mental duress of trying to play through much of the Wii and DS shovel-ware.)
On the other hand, its now almost standard that a game ship with easier difficulties, and recently the concept of a player's avatar's death may be removed entirely.
No two recent games may represent this disparity better than Kirby's Epic Yarn and Super Meat Boy. Released only days apart, both titles are highly praised platformers with light puzzle solving and exploratory elements, and each sport bold or unique visual styles. Considering both of these games remove the traditional life count or continuing at a setback routine, on the surface both these games would appear to target the same audience.
In truth the design philosophy is radically different. While Super Meat Boy expects hundreds or even thousands of constant failures (read: avatar deaths) to happen in the course of learning how to overcoming tough yet fair levels, in Kirby's Epic Yarn death of the avatar isn't even an option.
Kirby's Epic Yarn can certainly be challenging, mainly due to the mechanic of loosing items upon mistakes such as touching an enemy, and those items are used to unlock other elements of the game. However, the main game itself can be simply played through to completion without any real fear of lost progress.
The distinct design philosophies of these two very different yet critically loved gameplay experiences show how difficulty in gaming can be used in a myriad of functional ways. Super Meat Boy is designed around the 'I can do this, just one more try' hook that develops into a frustrating but skill-developing addiction. Kirby's Epic Yarn celebrates the oft-used Nintendo approach of a game anyone can play, with extra challenges for those hungry for more.
The popular lament of a lack of gameplay challenge does have relevance. Demon's Souls, a recent PS3 release largely noted for its difficulty and what is often now referred to as an 'old school challenge', cleanly divided player interest because of such. Many critics and players lauded a game unafraid to require absolute precision, memorization, and expensive experimentation. Just as many people refused to pour the needed time into a game that had no options to play nice. Demon's Souls, like more current spiritual precursors Ninja Gaiden and Devil May Cry 3, made some gamers wax nostalgic for a time when options were limited, timing had to be exact, and progress only came about through pure effort and occasional luck. Others bemoaned the lack of now-expected easy settings, the unforgiving small timing windows of interaction, and frequent loss of progress.
Designing a game with the opposite intention creates not only division, but derision. 2008's Prince of Persia was highly praised over beautiful art direction, fluid animation, exceptional writing, and even great voice acting. Yet there was a persistent complaint often heard from critics and players alike: the player couldn't really 'die' in the traditional sense. Fall off a cliff or to an enemy, and the avatar 'magically' reappears, set back just a few steps before the misstep. This lead to a common gripe that the player couldn't really lose, and so any sense of challenge was completely void.
This latter response was quite surprising to me. While Demon's Souls tends to earn a begrudging respect even from its detractors, I rarely hear Prince of Persia defenders, instead of long-time gamers grumbling about their beloved Sands of Time trilogy being neutered. The 2008 version culled much of what annoys fans of platformers: having to reload lost progress. Mess up too much in the classic Sands of Time trilogy and you may get aggravatingly dumped to the last checkpoint or worse, the beginning of that story chapter, but never are you forced to stare at the title screen, with no recourse but to slog through the entire game up to where you lost. (Unless you just started, of course.) The 2008 variant simply removed the extra time lost in frustration, and dropped the player back in place to get correct what was just failed. By trimming out the downtime between failures and allowing the player to simply focus on overcoming the obstacle, ideally the player could better immerse themselves in the experience. Perhaps Prince of Persia suffered from trying to change too much at once; a play control timing more akin to a rhythm game, a story disconnected from the beloved series it continued, and gameplay with story mechanics surrounding a, AI co-operative relationship may have compiled too many changes to gamers who had since moved to Sony's less whimsical and more brutal God of War and its sequel.
Maybe I'm reaching, but the highly praised Super Meat Boy also features a continue system of respawning immediately after death and I've yet to read a complaint about said mechanic. (To be fair, life restrictions do factor in bonus levels, but not for necessary progress.) Now, the platforming in Super Meat Boy is inarguably more challenging than Prince of Persia, but the argument still holds: you only 'lose' when you turn the game off, since the only thing hindering your progress is giving up.
Which, of course, could be said of most video games. We may run out of 'lives' or chances to continue from our previous point of progress, but out of all of the video games ever made, only fewer than a dozen games out of tens of thousands do we lose the ability to simply start over and try again by design. The fun, the friction between an obstacle and our ability to overcome it, is where the greatest hook lies; for some of us, its Super Meat Boy's infuriating precision that we're convinced we can master. For Prince of Persia, its more about telling a fantastical story in which we play a simple, interactive part. One is like a sculpture, shaped from countless little cuts of avatar deaths until perfection is realized. The other, an interactive storybook whose greatest friction lies between the imagination of the player who's along for the ride and the game that's playing the narrator.
It's this latter field whose development often makes us 'traditionalists' feel as though aliens have invaded our turf, strange things like Farmville, Angry Birds, and Flower fighting to share space under the same umbrella of entertainment as Final Fantasy, Super Mario, and Starcraft. We often want to pretend that these 'casual' things aren't really games at all.
You know who I like to watch play games? The "Casual Gamer". Now there is a person who can enjoy the hobby. Unfettered by the expectation of new, better, harder, faster, the casual gamer goofs off, has fun, and gets on with life. They can spend $200+ on a Wii just for Wii Sports, and still get their money's worth because they don't really need anything else. For us 'hardcore', why would we be offended from someone else enjoying themselves? Maybe Bejeweled or Peggle will be the gateway, opening them up to the joys of LAN parties, Demon's Souls, Monster Hunter, and slipping in the verbal venom of online play. But if not, why should that bother us?
I stopped trying to convince my mom she needed surround sound because she was just as happy with a tinny radio speaker. It may hurt my technophile heart, but she's just so darn happy with what she already has. The Bilbos out there will bravely and nervously venture out unto the wild frontier of gaming, but there are thousands more hobbits just as content to live out their lives in simpler pleasures.
These folks don't have to 'earn' our respect. They don't have to grow up and into 'hardcore'. We're all in it to have fun, or should be. That'll be a different experience for all of us. Besides, spending more time with gaming and even with a game in particular doesn't mean we earned any more stature. I've been playing Battletoads off and on for literally two decades and I still can't finish it. I can't blame my mom for not being the type for that challenge. But Kirby? She can have a blast with a well designed game, and I can even play co-op with her and go for the real challenge of trying to gain more unlockables by not getting hit.
Then I can go home and play I Wanna Be The Guy. You know, to unwind.
Tetris. It's an infamous title. Perhaps the original "casual game." The one that caused moms to buy their own Game Boys. The one that caused many of us to report seeing falling blocks on our inner eyelids upon attempting to fall asleep. It was first pack-in game when the Game Boy was released, and in many ways proved to be a killer app. So what would be the smart thing to do then? Make a whole bunch of variants for each Game Boy system of course. Although the original Game Boy is the biggest perpetuation of Tetris-fever, even its colorized big brothers got in on the fun. Let's take a look shall we?
Continue reading Tetris GB Series
Well I am very pleased to announce that due to the huge response we've gotten from the community we have already reached our goal of keeping the site funded throughout the rest of the year. Over the past week, we've raised a total of $505 from 17 different donors. As agreed, I will throw in the remaining $300 or so to cover the costs for the remainder of the year. It's now official that RFGen is safely funded until 2012. We will continue accepting donations through the rest of January and throughout the rest of the year. These donations will go towards keeping the site running next year, so no matter when you donate you can be sure you're helping secure the future of the site.
Special thanks goes out to all of our donors who generously donated in our time of need: Ben, Brian, James, Michael, Peter, Scott, James, Scott, Ryan, Terry, Adam, Ryan, Stuart, Chris, Richard, Den, and Cobra Blade. It's through your support (in both donations of time and money) that RFGen has become the great site and community it is today. Again, if you donated and I haven't been able to add you to the donor group in the forums, please PM me so I can add you.
A big thanks to everyone that pitched in and as always, keep it on channel 3!
What's this? A new episode within 30 days of the last one? That's right! With the new year, we're going to try to get on a schedule!
The Episode:
- 0:00: Intro
- 1:26: Site News
- 2:23: Gaming News and Discussion
- 26:13: Gaming History Museum
- 29:39: Top 5
- 30:24: Outro
You can comment in the forums, comment in this blog post, e-mail us, and even call us. We hope to be able to take your quick questions over any subject via e-mail at podcast@rfgeneration.com. You can also call us and leave a message! We can play your question or comment in the episode and we'll even respond to it! That number is (318) RFG-TIP5 or (318) 734-8475.
Here is the forum thread to comment: http://www.rfgeneration.c...m/index.php?topic=10730.0
The podcast, as usual, can be found and subscribed at http://rfgeneration.podomatic.com as well as in iTunes!
EDIT: Going to try this. PodOmatic has an embedded player if you don't want to go to the site or use iTunes.
Double Dragon. That's all you need to say and 30-year old dudes turn into 10-year old ninjas. The first two NES games are iconic. As Billy and Jimmy Lee you made your way through some mean streets and beat the tar out of anyone who crossed your path. Sure they were stripped way down in comparison to the arcades. But honestly they were so cool that it didn't matter. Who needed the arcade, man? Not me. And not a whole slew of other kids who blew the time after school and before dinner with some NES Double Dragon.
Now what we didn't know back then was that video games were a business. And sometimes games materialized not because they were good and deserved to exist, but instead because they'd make somebody else some money. It was a good lesson for us though. I know the 10-year old me had to learn that sometimes life just wasn't fair. Sometimes it punched your girlfriend in the stomach and threw her over its shoulder and carried her off fireman-style and then you and your brother had to go rescue her and then sometimes even he was a jerk too!
 
The first Double Dragon game was ported to the Game Boy in 1990 by Tecmo, and it's actually kind of good. It's basically a miniaturized version of the NES game. It's got different level layouts, but they're basically all inspired by levels from the NES game. All of the characters from the NES release are also pretty much recognizable here as well. Of course it's not as good as the cult-classic, but it actually does a great job of being what it sets out to be: a portable substitute. It knows that it's a little-brother, and it's okay with that identity. If you want to have a good time playing a brief version of Double Dragon, well here it is.
 
Then things got worse. You see the NES release of Double Dragon II was a huge hit. It remains the coolest game in the series. Just owning the cartridge literally figuratively put hair on your chest. So Acclaim knew they had to release a Game Boy port of the game. They had two options: (1) they could pay a developer to re-create the awesome experience of Double Dragon II on the Game Boy in a similar fashion to the first GB game. Or (2) they could just take a really abysmal River City Ransom sequel that had already been released in Japan, change the sprites to look like a Double Dragon game, keep all the horrible gameplay and call it Double Dragon II. Guess which one they felt would be more cost-effective?
However Double Dragon II does have one thing going for it; it's not Double Dragon 3: The Arcade Game.
 
Double Dragon 3: The Arcade Game is bad. I mean really bad. Like if you ever find yourself on a long car-ride with a Game Boy that has this game loaded in it, you'll just start counting cars instead. It's biggest problem is the AI. You will be constantly surrounded by unmerciful enemies that will beat you to death really quickly. And considering the poor controls, you really have no choice but to just take it.
 
After two total letdowns, it's surprising that the Double Dragon license lived on on the Game Boy, but surprisingly Battletoads/Double Dragon actually turned out pretty good. It's an ambitious port of the SNES title, and features all three 'toads along with both Lees as playable characters. The levels take cues from both series, and the gameplay is actually quite good on the Game Boy. Of course this comes from experience on the part of Tradewest who had already published two excellent Battletoads games on the Game Boy. If anything, they were kind enough to pull the Double Dragon name out of the mud with this one.
And then nothing happened for ten years.
 
In 2003 Double Dragon Advance was published by Atlus for the GBA. This came as a total shock as the series had been dead on Game Boy systems for the last decade. Even as other classic NES titles like Super Mario Bros., Ghosts 'N Goblins, and 1942 were seeing re-releases on the portable-NES-ish Game Boy Color, nobody dared bring up Double Dragon. So what a relief this one was when it finally saw the light of day. It was actually a very faithful port of the arcade original which is actually quite impressive in and of itself, considering the NES version being the most recognized in this day and age. Though this would prove to be the final Game Boy-related release for the series, at least it went out on the sort of dignified high-note that the series deserves.
|
|
