Folks, be ready to be amazed. Not shortly after Nintendo released the Nintendo 3DS, they have dropped another bombshell. It's soon to be the age of the Nintendo 2DS.
[img width=450]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/repository/17636Nintendo 2DS.jpg[/img]
Face it, 3D was so 2010. You know that, I know that, and certainly Nintendo knows that. That's why we have been graced by this announcement. The Nintendo 2DS offers to provide the best that a 2D Dot Matrix can provide. While details are scarse, we are aware that New Old Super Mario Bros has been announced, and as a Mario fan, I am completely excited. More on this development as it arises. For now, rejoice at the news that 2D gaming is making a triumphant return to handheld gaming!
RF Generation is an awesome site, but... it can be better. I should know, I coded the PHP files and the HTML. Clearly, I am the expert. So, imagine my surprise when Den provided me with the best invention that would grace this site. What could that invention be? What could make this site the best damn site on the internet? Why... it's our 2D Glasses.
[img width=385 height=257]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/repository/18199DenisAwesome.jpg[/img]
Doesn't Den look awesome? Well, guess what? Those glasses make this site look best. So, I suggest you get your own glasses. You can then appreciate RF Generation for everything it is. We look best with our patent pending 2D Glasses. So please, pick your own up today. Send us what you look like!
Get our 2D Glasses and View Our Site the Way it Should be Seen
In honor of the new 2D Generation, I'm going to explain the non-believers why 2D gaming is far superior to this 3D gaming phase we've been in for the past couple decades. Now, I know what most of you are thinking, "of course 2D is better, everyone knows that", this article is not for you then, you already know the glorious perfectness of gaming in the only good dimensions. But read it anyway, you may learn a few things that will enable you to convert the non-believers.
First off, who needs Z? Gaming was going along just fine with X and Y, there was no need for Z. Games were just fine with the character only moving left/right and up/down, that's where all the real action is. There was no need to involve the ability to move forward and back. Just think about one of the greatest games ever made, Super Mario Bros. Imagine if when Mario came across those bottomless pits, he could just walk around them? Where is the fun in that? [img width=200 height=281]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-027/bf/U-027-S-06290-C.jpg&sizex=200[/img] Or perhaps you're more familiar with Pac-Man. "Oh no there's a ghost coming right at me, oh wait, I can just step to the side with this extra dimension" Yeah, that sure sounds like fun. Clearly, there was no need for this extra 3rd dimension. All it does it just make games easier as your hero can just walk around most obstacles instead of facing them head on like the old days.
This 3rd dimension also brings up another huge problem with 3D games, its too easy to get lost in them! Has anyone in the history of gaming ever started playing Super Mario Bros and not known where to go? Its simple, you go right 99% of the time. Some games mixed it up with having you to go to the left and others allowed you to travel up and down. But in 3D games, you're forced to figure out for yourself where you should go. Do you go to the right? To the left? Who the heck knows, maybe you're supposed to go back from the direction you came from.
Let's compare two games from the Donkey Kong series, Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong 64. Of course, DKC representing 2D games while DK64 represents the 3D games.
| [img width=256 height=224]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-044/ss/ex/U-044-S-01380-A_03.jpg[/img] | .png) |
|---|
| Donkey Kong Country | Donkey Kong 64 |
Notice how its quite obvious that in the first screenshot, Donkey Kong only has two options, go right or to go left. There is no confusion or wasted time backtracking because you went the wrong way. But in the second screenshot, of DK64, DK has an almost infinite number of options, he can go to any of the smaller trees, or maybe that big tree, or perhaps he's supposed to go in the water? Who knows, there could be an underwater cave or something hidden in there?
And finally, what I feel is the biggest advantage 2D games have over 3D games. The graphics are better. For this, we'll compare some extremes. A modern game that is known for "realistic" graphics and a game that is nearly 30 years old. First off, we'll look at that modern 3D game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. [img width=500 height=280]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/repository/23896call-of-duty-4-modern-warfare-2.jpg[/img]Now, many people would (incorrectly) say that those graphics look very good. But really look at it, the foreground is fuzzy and the background just fades into an impenetrable fog. The only part of the image that is clear is the middle of the screen. But did you notice anything else about this image? That's right, there are a whole two colors, brown and splash of green. I'm pretty sure the last time I was outside there were more than those two colors. Before you accuse me of just cherry picking images that were like this, go do a Google Image search for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. They're all like this, in fact here's another one, that does a little better with an astonishing three colors, this time adding in some orange. [img width=550 height=309]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/repository/26733call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2.jpg[/img]
Now, lets look at a game from 1983, when all there was 2D games and the world was greater for it, Keystone Kapers.
[img width=500 height=328]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-005/ss/ex/U-005-S-02370-A_00.jpg[/img]
Look at those colors! Every color of the rainbow is present. Well, except for violet or indigo, I never could tell the difference between them, there is definitely some purple though. But not only are there lots of colors, the lines are all sharp and clean, nothing is fuzzy or blurred or covered in some fog. Clearly, these graphics are superior to those of these current 3D games. Even with 30 years to develop ways to make 3D games look better, they still can't compare to 2D games. I guess that extra D sucks up more processing power than developers can put up with. I won't even compare a modern 2D game with an old 3D game, that might just blow the mind of too many people and cause a sudden spike in the value of the 2D games I desire for myself.
I know I've made quite a convincing argument, but the constant advertisement/brainwashing of modern game developers and publishers has it so engrained into your brain that 3D gaming is superior, many of you will simply refuse this article as the ramblings of a gamer stuck in the past. But I assure you that I speak the truth, go dig out those NES and Atari games, dust off those aging machines and play a few awesome 2-dimensional games and bask in their gloriousness that can not be achieved when three dimensions are involved.
And don't even get me started on these new 3DS games or games that use 3D effects with the glasses. These are the obvious spawn of Satan.
[img width=300 height=300]http://i.imgur.com/dfi1Y.jpg[/img]
When Star Wars: Dark Forces was announced as March's game of the month for the Together Retro game club at http://Racketboy.com, I wasn't quite sure how to feel. On the one hand, I was excited at the prospect of trying out a game I had never had any experience with. Certainly it had attained its Greatest Hits package because enough people liked it. Right? And plus, I was back into the swing of seriously collecting PS1 games again. So it was a great excuse to snatch this one up. But on the other hand, I'm really not a Star Wars fan. I mean, I saw the original trilogy growing up. I certainly was aware of the license. But I was never all that into it either. So I've always avoided games based on it.
Upon first firing it up, I felt a bit of relief. The truth is that I don't have all that much experience with first person shooters. I did enjoy Wolfenstein 3D and Doom during the golden age of freeware. I loved the GBA Duke Nukem sequel. But for the most part my experience with the genre was limited. So imagine my comfort when I realized that Dark Forces was cut from the same mold as Doom.
[img width=300 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/bDI4f.jpg[/img] [img width=300 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/7PsN6.jpg[/img]
It should certainly be distinguished that Dark Forces is not quite a Doom-clone either. I mean obviously it borrows at least something from such an influential game, but it also adds a lot as well. The most impressive addition being the ability to freely look up and down, thus adding an extra layer of importance to the 3D environment.
The first few levels impressed me immensely. Even without being a Star Wars fan, there was a lot to enjoy here. The absolute high point for me with this game was the level design. Each level was amazingly well thought out and featured various puzzles or gimmicks that made them stand out. Whether it was dealing with the absence of light until getting a power generator running, or navigating through multi-level platformed mazes in a sewer, the game offered incredible levels to explore and enjoy.
[img width=300 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/MUKUO.jpg[/img] [img width=300 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/fsDuw.jpg[/img]
Unfortunately there was one major drawback to the game that completely derailed my progress: the lack of ability to save anywhere. You see, in Dark Forces you can only save your game after you beat a level. This might be fine in a game like Doom where you can shoot your way through a level in no time. But whereas Dark Forces concentrated so heavily on mission-based levels with puzzles and mazes and other various objectives, this really hurt things. At least for me.
After spending about an hour and a half making my way through a maze-like level one evening, it got to a point where I simply had to go to bed. So that was it. I had to just hit the power switch and lose ninety minutes of progress. The slightest thought of powering up my console to replay that same ninety minutes over again just enraged me. Especially if I wasn't able to complete the level before having some other real world thing to deal with. There was no way, man. No way.
[img width=221 height=166]http://i.imgur.com/OrEbp.jpg[/img]
So honestly much of the month was spent with that mindset. I'd pick up Dark Forces with the intention of making some more progress. But then I'd look at the clock and figure I best just play something else instead. I figured I just didn't have the time to devote to a single level like that. Considering many (probably more recent) games of this nature my let you save your progress as you go, I'd probably do better with them. Y'know making my way through a game in baby steps.
But that got me to thinking a bit about the whole concept. I mean, is it wrong to want your game to be so flexible? I couldn't help but think back to Resident Evil with its infuriating typerwriter ribbon save system. Now certainly I don't look back on Resident Evil with any disdain, but I will say that I was thrilled that saving was a far more easy and constant prospect by the time Resident Evil 4 was released. I'm also somewhat reminded of the save-state debate that's developed since the dawn of easily attainable ROM's via the internet. While we old timers might look down on the youngin's for "cheating" by using save-states, how many of us actually have time to handle all of our day-to-day adult responsibilities and keep replaying the same dungeon over and over again? (I'm looking at you Ice Palace).
I know I've gone off on a bit of tangent here. But I guess it's nice to know that even if I didn't get a chance to really get as much gameplay enjoyment out of Dark Forces as I may have wished, at least it caused me to do some thinking.
[img width=300 height=390]http://www.theoldcomputer.com/game-box-art-covers/Atari/2600/Cart-Scans/s/Solar%20Fox%20%281983%29%20%28CBS%20Electronics%29.jpg[/img]
SPECS:
Game: Solar Fox
Year: 1983
Publisher: CBS Electronics
Developer: Bally Midway Manufacturing Co., Inc.
Designer(s)/Programmer(s): Bob Curtiss
Rarity (according to AtariAge): 3 = Scarce
Controls: Joystick
Number of Players: 1 - 2 (turn based)
Average Cost: $2 - $7 loose
Also Available On: coin-op, Commodore 64
Tagline/Description: On a daring mission to save energy-starved Earth, you must navigate your Starship through a complex matrix of precious solar-cells. The faster you clear the matrix, the greater your reward! Ominous Sentinels oscillate along the perimeter and riddle the energy field with fireballs. Their slightest touch will reduce your ship to ashes. Defenseless, you must weave in and out of their path until the last solar-cell is secured!
Continue reading Solar Fox
[img width=250 height=400]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-095/bf/U-095-S-02950-A.jpg[/img]
If you've been following my blog for a while now, then it's no secret to you that I've become a pretty big fan of shmups. And when I'm collecting for a system, it becomes near impossible for me to pass any up at the right price. This means that constant trips to GameStop have resulted in some peculiar purchases. Y'know the old saying of judging books by their covers? I don't really buy into all that. I tend to know the sort of games that I enjoy. And I tend to believe that many game companies knew enough to market a lot of their games as such. If I see a shmup that has an anime witch with odd-colored hair and the screenshots boast bright pink or green bullets, then guess what? I'm probably gonna like it. But then there's a game like Platypus. I mean forget the cover -- just take a gander at that title: Platypus? Really?
[img width=300 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/SXS3J.jpg[/img] [img width=300 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/kH8fp.jpg[/img]
Platypus is a horizontal shmup that seems to draw inspiration from the Cute-em-up sub-sub-genre. To put it bluntly -- everything is made out of clay. It's sort of like Gradius meets Clay Fighter. Your ship has several power-ups to its main gun, and no secondary weapons. One interesting feature is that rather than lose your power-up at a death, instead there's a count-down timer on each power-up you collect. So while you may find one power-up more useful than another, it's also in your interest to keep grabbing new ones so as to not be demoted down to your standard shot.
[img width=300 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/BiBxX.jpg[/img] [img width=300 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/eGRO7.png[/img]
I'm not going to pretend that Platypus is some amazing hidden gem. It's not. It's basically a very so-so shmup. But it is at least unique in its presentation. And it boasts thirty levels, which means it will keep you busy for at least a bit. Perhaps more importantly, it's very cheap on the after-market. Basically you're getting into a just good shmup, but for the low premium why not? The visuals are at least interesting, which is at least saying something. The bit of searching I tried to do on the game's developer, Squashy Software seems to say that this is their only game so far (and it was released in 2006). I'd at least give them a chance to see what they do next considering their attempt at putting a unique visual spin on such a long-running genre.
Well, as some proof that they do exist, our guest this time is a girl gamer. slackur's wife joins us for a little chat about a few news stories as well as the topics you wanted to hear about!
Continue reading RF Generation Nation - Episode 9: Under the Sea
[img width=285 height=350]http://www.atariguide.com/c2/Laser_Gates_283.jpg[/img]
SPECS:
Game: Laser Gates (aka. Inner Space)
Year: 1983
Publisher: Imagic
Developer: Imagic, VentureVision
Designer(s)/Programmer: Dan Oliver
Rarity (according to AtariAge): 5 = Rare
Controls: Joystick
Number of Players: 1
Average Cost: $10 - $25 loose, depending on condition, label fading is fairly common
Also Available On: Atari 8-Bit (as part of a compilation called "1-2-3 Imagic") and on the Atari 2600 by Zellers as "Laser Volley" - also available for the Atari 5200 as a part of a homebrew compilation called "AtariMax" (http://www.atarimax.com/5200sd/documentation/)
Tagline/Description: "The thousand galaxies quake at the news: the Cryptic Computer, the galactic defense synthesizer which has maintained peace for the five centuries since the Wars on Zevon, has malfunctioned! Four Failsafe Detonators inside the Computer will now initiate universal self-destruct! The Governors of Enderby order the Dante Dart into action. Only it can spiral down through the nearly impenetrable defenses of the Computer in order to reach and destroy the Detonators!"
Continue reading Laser Gates
[img width=250 height=325]http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT1BW5HssmdpnGuDNKwRgOOGyqfQz3KHLXrp5DfgxlWcPiQeVZE[/img]
SPECS:
Game: Pengo
Year: 1984
Publisher: Atari, Inc.
Developer: Coreland, Sega Enterprises, Ltd.
Designer(s)/Programmer: Mark Hahn
Sound: Andrew Fuchs & Jeff Gusman
Graphics: Courtney Granner
Rarity (according to AtariAge): 6 = Rare+
Controls: Joystick
Number of Players: 1-2 players, alternating turns
Average Cost: currently $25 - $45 loose
Also Available On: coin-op arcade, Atari 8-bit, Atari 5200, Commodore 64, Game Gear, also released as "Pengon" for the Dragon 32/64 and TRS-80 CoCo, released as "Pepen ga Pengo" on the Sega Mega Drive (Japan)
Tagline/Description: "Go skating on thin ice! Race Pengo, the lovable penguin, around a frozen lake. Rearrange huge blocks of ice. Your goal: Line up three jewel-embedded blocks for dazzling points! Your enemies: SNO-BEES! Their touch puts you in deep freeze!"
Continue reading Pengo
Hey everyone! Last minute show idea popped up. We wanted to get the community's input on some quick topics that you want us to talk about. Everything and anything about games: news, retro games, social effects of gaming on society, you name it!
The only problem is that we kind of came up with this on short notice, so you essentially have until tomorrow night... yeah... We dropped the ball. But we'll be sure to mention you in the podcast right along with your topic! Thanks!
Last month The Legend Of Zelda turned 25. And because of this every single retro-gaming related website ran a bunch of features related to the series. So I figured I'd wait for the celebration to die down and then get into it here. Or rather, I just got sidetracked and forgot to get around to it until now. Whatever. But the series is certainly important to me. And as such it's important to this blog. Seeing as how the blog started as a way to showcase lesser known Game Boy carts, it should be noted that my purchase of the Nintendo Game Boy Player attachment for the GameCube was based almost solely on the fact that doing so would suddenly mean that there were a pile of Zelda games that I could play on my TV. So let's take a look at all those Zelda games that found their way to a Game Boy handheld.
[img width=300 height=300]http://i.imgur.com/5f1me.jpg[/img]
[img width=300 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/OIo42.jpg[/img] [img width=300 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/GFkyv.jpg[/img]
The Legend Of Zelda was re-released as part of the Game Boy Advance's Classic NES series. That choice was certainly a no-brainer. The game is of course not only a high-point of the NES, but of gaming in general. It basically created an entire genre that meshed action with elements of role playing. The GBA port is excellent and cheap-n-easy to find on the after market. All GBA enthusiasts should have this one.
[img width=300 height=300]http://i.imgur.com/p8pWF.jpg[/img]
[img width=300 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/Lqh6u.jpg[/img] [img width=300 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/X9tpB.jpg[/img]
Surprisingly the sequel Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link also made it to the Classic NES line. Strange considering the phrase "black sheep" being almost synonymous with the game. Though for all the flack it receives, I'm a longtime fan of this one. The truth is, Adventure Of Link was actually my first Zelda game. I got it for my birthday soon after its release. At the time the first game was impossible to find in local toy stores, so this was my introduction to the series. Say what you will about it. There's a very unique and daring quest within. The GBA port is wonderfully faithful to the original, and considering it's probably the cheapest GB-related Zelda game to find in the wild, it's worth giving it a go even if you don't remember loving it the first time.
[img width=300 height=300]http://i.imgur.com/Ux34p.jpg[/img]
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A Link To The Past is my favorite game ever. So I'm totally biased when I say that everybody should own this game either in its original SNES form, or here on the GBA. It looks fantastic on a GBA SP screen, although suffers slightly from a few oddly annoying voice samples that were added to the re-release. They aren't nearly as overdone as in the GBA port of Super Mario Bros. 2 though.
The GBA re-release is also notable for including a bonus game, the brand new Four Swords which would be the first multi-player Zelda game. It recycled sprites from Link To The Past which was welcome artistically, but it was also somewhat of a burden to play. Sadly unlike its GameCube sequel, there's no single-player campaign on the GBA game. This means that some of us (me) who don't have local gamer friends with their own GBA's and copies of the game never got the chance to delve in to this one.
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[img width=200 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/SxTRr.jpg[/img] [img width=200 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/NTPDb.jpg[/img]
Link's Awakening was released for the Game Boy in 1993, and was a total revelation. Although the GB's hardware was lesser than that of the NES, the graphics, gameplay and story of this one actually aligned with the SNES' Link To The Past. Playing the game on Game Boy hardware back then was stunning to say the least, as nobody realized that the handheld was capable of such things. Even to this day the title remains a cult-classic in the Zelda series, often considered the standard by which to judge all portable outings.
Link's Awakening received a Game Boy Color re-release in 1998 which adds to the game by giving it vibrant colors, an extra dungeon and even compatibility with the Game Boy Camera.
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Perhaps the two most overlooked titles in the official Zelda cannon, Oracle Of Ages and Oracle Of Seasons are the definition of ambition. What began as an attempt to port the original Legend Of Zelda to the NES somehow turned into an original game, then three games, and eventually scaled down to two games. The misconception among gamers seems to be that these are two takes on the same game -- like Pokemon Red and Blue. But that's not the case at all. The two Oracle games are completely different and original quests. One relies heavily on puzzles, the other on action. One toys with time, the other with nature. But each of them are remarkable little gems that should get a bit more attention than they do.
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Minish Cap would be the final Zelda game to come out on a GB handheld, and it's a solid affair. Admittedly it's the one that I've spent the least amount of time with as I personally got slightly bored with the shrinking and growing gimmick. However, I can certainly say that it's artistically great, borrowing heavily from A Link To The Past's art style and features some jaw-dropping visuals on the GBA. Fans of the heavy-puzzle side of the series will enjoy this one quite a bit, though the game's biggest criticism tends to be its brevity.
So there we have it -- the GB side of Zelda. What are your favorites and why?
Fuyukaze has opened up a remarkable topic on his blog, titled The Meaning of Gaming, in which he simply asks, "what does gaming mean to you? In beginning my response I realized that chronicling my thoughts for such a query would require my own long-winded entry. (As a side note, please be kind and not derail personal answers to his question from his blog to mine. Feel free to add to the thoughts posted here, but answers to what gaming specifically means to you should probably stay under the original. I don't want to hijack discussions from another post!)
To answer what the meaning of gaming is to me, let me produce a sliver of the variety of subjects this opens which fascinate me:
Video games function as a near metaphysical examination into the ephemeral nature of technology based, progressively developing entertainment.
They provide a window into modern culture and its responses to fantasy, imagination, and social critique in the form of interactive reflection.
As with other forms of media, they function as a meter of acceptable public content to a variety of cultures, and usually trail slightly behind the pulse of corporate entertainment appetites, differing in each country. The multicultural research gained in the study of the differences in ports of games from one locale to the other is a revealing micro-hobby of mine.
The debate of video games as art is also a passion of mine, though I personally see them as not specific works but more a vehicle through which we ingest another's work. Like flipping through a child's coloring book or touring the Louvre, we are taking in a collective sensory experience of one or more artists.
A psychological examination of maturity-biased perception in gaming, which produces such ideas as "video games are for kids," or "Once you're older, you should 'move up' from Mario to Call of Duty or Madden, speaks volumes about generation gaps and peer pressure systems.
The economy of the game industry operates under peculiar laws of supply and demand, and often displays interesting trends and disconnects between financial success and critical or popular acclaim. The video game collecting aspect alone functions as it's own metagame of value analysis and worth interpretation.
The advancements of technology in gaming, including control interfaces, realism and artistic approaches to graphics and sound, and the traceable arc of gameplay simplicity/complexity, are an approachable microcosmic study of the application of technology in daily life.
And then there's the phenomena of 'gaming culture,' the interesting banners that unite and repel individuals linked to specific games and gaming systems. From Europe's Sony entrenchment, Japan's rejection of Microsoft consoles, and the classic Super Nintendo and Genesis console wars, to the cat-and-dog fights of old school PC vs. Mac gamers, entire people groups can be studied and linked to various events, marketing, psychological approaches, and economic factors.
And these topics are just the ones off the top of my head at 2 a.m.
But what, specifically, does gaming mean to me personally? It's my favorite paradigm for observation and study. It is the choice prism I use to split the pure into the abstraction, the microscope by which I enjoy looking at the world and thinking about the details. While the scope of such a lens is obviously limited to the last several decades, when linked to the branch of the also relatively recent applied mathematics known as Game Theory, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory for a worthwhile primer) suddenly there is an entire holistic field that makes the study of video games worthwhile, academic, even philosophical.
The best part? I find myself enjoying video games not only for the angles it gives into more 'meta-' subjects, but for the simple joy of the games. As fascinating as it is to use video games as a tool for study, I just have more fun with them than any other mode of entertainment, plain and simple. I can chat about art, mathematics, and social-political dynamics all day, but at the other end of the spectrum, Super Mario 3 is still a blast to speed-run, competitive Tetris still excites, and I'm always up for another round of Halo Wars. Fun is fun.
It has been some time since I last covered an end game on the blog, and when I did it was a Dreamcast shmup. Here we go again...
[img width=320 height=181]http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq17/dsheinem/9b4e1092.jpg[/img]
As a 2007 release, Triggerheart Exelica was one of the last games that Sega itself released for the Dreamcast in Japan, where the system outlived its U.S. counterpart by almost five years (the last U.S. Release by Sega was NHL 2K2). So how does this near-final final shmup stack up to the rest of the excellent Dreamcast shmup library?
As an end game it is notable for several reasons
Multiple release formats. As was the case for several of the late Dreamcast releases, there was a Sega Direct limited edition version of the game which included a small art booklet, a phone card, a poster, and a soundtrack. In addition to that version, there was another Limited Edition version which included the soundtrack, and a Standard Edition featuring just the game. All of these releases came in a DVD-sized case, as was typical of these very late Dreamcast titles. As you might expect, each of these releases continues to demand a premium on eBay, with the rare Sega Direct version usually fetching over $200.
[img width=220 height=220]http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq17/dsheinem/teltd.jpg[/img][img width=258 height=253]http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq17/dsheinem/teltd2.jpg[/img][img width=320 height=239]http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq17/dsheinem/d1cf000e.jpg[/img]
The Sega Direct, Limited, and Standard releases of the game
It has a good gimmick. Some of the best shmups have a gameplay gimmick Ikaruga's color-based gameplay, Gaiares' TOZ, and Gradius' power up system are all classic examples. Triggerheart's gimmick is the anchor shot, which allows you to grab enemies, use them as a shield, and spin around and throw them. This adds an almost wrestling-esque feel to the game at points and gives it a ton of replay value as you can try to figure out new ways to string together chains or best address the rougher sections of the game.
[img width=150 height=200]http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq17/dsheinem/th2.jpg[/img]
Its aesthetics elements aren't state of the art. There are many earlier, better looking shmups on the Dreamcast. Late system releases can be very hit and miss - sometimes they take advantage of all the development tricks learned on the games released previously and try to squeeze the most out of a system (e.g. Under Defeat for the Dreamcast), other times they are produced as budget titles and look cheap (e.g. the PS1's Shooter series of games). Triggerheart Exelica falls somewhere in the middle: it looks and sounds fine, but it isn't anything special. As it was Warashi's first (and only) outing on the Dreamcast, they may not have had much experience porting their arcade games to the hardware. In any case, the game doesn't stand out as either a budget title or a carefully polished high point for the system.
[img width=239 height=320]http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq17/dsheinem/th1.jpg[/img]
All in all Triggerheart Exelica is a fun game and a necessary addition to any shmup fans Dreamcast collection. Its status as a late system release gives it more of a reputation than it probably deserves, but it is a great game nonetheless.
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As anyone who's been following this blog may have noticed, I've been spending an awful lot of time with my PSP lately. And for good reason. In a sense it's become one of the few outlets for developers to release what you might call "new retro" games. It's home to such throwbacks as Half-Minute Hero, remakes like the recently released Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, and retro compilations like the upcoming Final Fantasy IV release that will be packaged along with the previously download-only The After Years. Perhaps the system strikes a perfect balance of being just powerful enough to pull off old school games with an updated style. Or perhaps many developers realize that the PSP is a console overlooked enough to use it as a medium for experimentation.
Whatever it is, it's still an exciting time to be a fan of the handheld. True it may be on its last legs in a sense. But there's a rather impressive list of games coming out this year -- most of which on UMD -- that says that it may still have a chance at sticking around for a while. And if enough of us continue to buy UMD's then perhaps that physical media won't die out. At least not as quickly as the media seems to assume.
On a recent trip to my local used stores looking for cheap UMD's I stumbled upon Gunpey. The name alone caught my eye. Could it really be? "Originally created by the late Gunpei Yokoi..." read the back of the box. Yes, this is a title making reference to Gunpei Yokoi himself -- the sadly deceased genius who invented the Game Boy. And without hesitation I snatched this game up. It seemed far too cosmic. Something I absolutely must own. If the PSP has taken its place in my travels as thee portable gaming device to keep my attention, then any game that has such a strong connection to the Game Boy deserves to be played by me.
[img width=225 height=279]http://i.imgur.com/dxUSX.jpg[/img]
[img width=200 height=300]http://i.imgur.com/FnGH5.jpg[/img] [img width=200 height=300]http://i.imgur.com/EQJsw.jpg[/img]
After reading through the PSP game's manual, I could find no real answer as to how much Yokoi had to do with this game. So I was off to do some research. As it turns out Gunpey is actually a remake of a puzzler that Yokoi created for his original WonderSwan handheld. This of course was the portable console that he would create after leaving Nintendo, and it was a direct competition to the Game Boy that he had been responsible for creating. It, and its successor the WonderSwan Color would never leave Japan.
Basically Gunpey is a puzzle game in which you must take jagged pieces of angles arranged in blocks as part of a grid and connect them so that they reach from one side of the screen to the other. The result will look something like a graph before clearing.
[img width=300 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/AI4U9.jpg[/img] [img width=300 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/i7wFO.jpg[/img]
Gunpey on the PSP is exactly what it should be -- an updated version of the original. It plays just like the original, but yet features vibrant colors and lush trance-like music. It offers some unlockable content, such as new music and backgrounds and of course keeps track of your high scores. But really the game is little more than the simple, but challenging puzzle game that Yokoi came up with over a decade ago. To be fair Gunpey is not a classic. It does not have the sort of addictive quality that games like Tetris are best known for. But it is elegantly simple. It is challenging. It is a work out for your mind and fingers at the same time. It is completely conducive to a portable setting. And with that in mind, it is a perfect tribute to its creator. And a welcome addition to the PSP's library.
We're back and we dragged yet another willing participant in with us! den68 joins us for this episode and, as will happen when talking about your 6000+ game collection, things get a little strange. Regardless, we want to thank Dennis for joining us and we hope you enjoy the episode! Also, because of the ridiculousness that was brought up, we're going to have a little caption contest. Details inside!
Continue reading RF Generation Nation - Episode 8: Furious Iron Fist
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