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[img width=400 height=456]http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/5278/367095-room_of_doom_large.jpg[/img]
SPECS:
Game: Room of Doom
Year: 1982
Publisher: CommaVid, Inc.
Developer: CommaVid, Inc.
Designer(s)/Programmer: Irwin Gaines
Rarity (according to AtariAge): 6 = Rare+
Controls: Joystick
Number of Players: 1
Average Cost: varies upon condition and number listed at auction, $25 - $65 loose is typical
Also Available On: exclusive to the Atari 2600
Tagline/Description: "ESCAPE! Your mind throbs, trapped in the Room of Doom, the fiendish gunmen are trying to annihilate you. Shots come from secret portals that mysteriously open and close. Watch out! The gunmen have unleashed a hydra-headed monster; it relentlessly pursues you. Don't panic! Your marksmanship can stun it, but only for a moment. Should it remain in the Room of Doom too long; the monster becomes invulnerable to your bullets. Dodge the gummen's firepower; shoot them in return when the secret portals open and Escape....But where? The next Room of Doom awaits. An even more diabolical chamber with rapid-fire gunmen and devious monsters trying to destroy you. Can you survive through the full gauntlet of Rooms and escape unscathed? Only you can test your skill in this latest video challenge from CommaVid."
Continue reading Room of Doom
| The Demise of the Video Game Manual |
The other evening I opened up NBA 2K11 and was presented with the following on page 1 of the miniscule documentation (4 pages in total):
Reading those dreaded words officially ended my naive hopes that my gaming partner would recover from the years of cropping and truncating. Though I was aware that the end was nearing (Ubisoft), my old friend known as the Video Game Manual was at long last on its final legs. |
Back in the day, tearing open a new video game was pure exhilaration. Not only did I finally acquire that cherished title, but I couldn't wait to check out its mandatory sidekick - the Video Game Manual. As much as the software itself, I was stoked to check out those glossy, colorful pages that would detail the various ins and outs for my upcoming gaming adventure. What surprises lay in store for me? Would it give me some secret tips in addition to that somewhat-mandatory "Notes" page to scrawl my cheat codes. high scores and the like? For those old-timers out there, this anticipation was akin to slipping the jacket out of a new vinyl purchase. You did so in a very slow, calculated manner in hopes that this meticulous action would somehow ensure the ultimate payoff - song lyrics imprinted upon the album sleeve. Ripping into a new video game purchase was much the same. For my hard earned cash, I was eagerly expecting to be rewarded in some manner in addition to the game itself. For the most part, the publisher did not disappoint. They took great pride in the production and content of their game manuals. Screenshots were showcased in addition to providing 'survival tips', background story, team rosters and sometimes even a game map. You never knew what might be encompassed within, or accompany, the instructions. It was like opening up a box of Cracker Jacks as a kid. Sadly, those magical moments are nearing its end. 
| Final Fantasy III really gave gamers a bang for their buck!! |
For the most part, budgetary and environmental initiatives have basically castrated the Video Game Manual. Don't get me wrong - I want to save a tree as much as the next guy. I am all for utilizing technology to reduce manufacturing expense and the overall ecological footprint of production. That being said, the instruction booklet is an integral part of the overall experience for this old school gamer and should not be the sacrificial lamb. The joy of simply reading through that gaming goodness prepared me for the upcoming experience. I can't quite put it into words, but I could feel myself getting completely immersed in the game after studying a well produced manual prior to actually playing it. Yes, I grant you that I may just be feeling nostalgic at the moment. I miss the days of finding those hidden gems within that game packaging. I find myself being pleasantly surprised less and less as the years go by. Of course, this is a sign of old age coupled with dawn of the digital era. Still, I will miss my cherished compadre. The glory days of the Video Game Manual have unfortunately come to an end. Unless, of course, you decide to purchase the Limited Edition version.
| | | Do you miss the Video Game Manual?
Which ones were among your favorites? | |
I know what you're thinking, the last edition of RFG Thanks was for March, and this one is for February. But don't worry, we didn't travel back in time (I didn't anyway, I don't know about you), it really has been 11 months since the last one. And I do apologize for that, you guys are what make this site possible, the members that make the submissions and the staff members that review them and make their own. And the least I can do is thank you all for the work you do here at RF Generation.
Now, without further ado, the stars of RF Generation! The top five submitters in February were Y2richie, Fuyukaze, ApolloBoy, NES_Rules and Shadow Kisuragi. Together, these people made over 1,300 submissions, with y2richie and Fuyukaze making an astounding 466 and 408 of those respectively. Thanks guys, you've all done an excellent job!
But that's only one side of the story, without our team of highly skilled and trained staff reviewers, none of those submissions would have done anything other sit in queue. These staff members each approved over 100 submissions in February: Fuyukaze, ApolloBoy, NES_Rules, and Izret101. As always, you guys are awesome and the backbone of RF Generation!
Though these members were the top submitters and reviewers in February, they are not alone. This site is a group project and can only be complete with the help of every member, whether its a small page edit or submitting a thousand images. So thanks goes out to the other 54 members who made at least one submission in February.
With the help of all RFG members, in February there were a total of 1,813 submissions, with 1178 of those being images. 139 new titles were added to the DB, and 372 pages were edited. I'd say that's a good month, and it was the shortest month of the year!
And finally, I'd like to mention that I won't be the only one writing these anymore. Instead, a team of writers from the Blog staff will be taking turns to help ensure that they continue each and every month. If you want to know who else will be writing these, you'll just have to keep it tuned to Channel 3 to find out.
King Of Fighters 98 was the game chosen for February's Together Retro game club title over at http://Racketboy.com. Though I'm a fan of 2D fighting games, the King Of Fighters series always seemed tough to keep track of as far as I was concerned. And even after putting in plenty of time to research it for the month, it came across as no less daunting of a task. Even this particular entry in the series was released and re-released multiple times, often with alternate titles (KOF 98 is even titled 99 on the Dreamcast!). However, I did my best to wrap my brain around it and put together some thoughts for your amusement dear readers.
[img width=300 height=400]http://i.imgur.com/NFJ7I.jpg[/img]
[img width=300 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/iGtHE.jpg[/img] [img width=300 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/AcOXj.jpg[/img]
Because I've been heavily concentrating on collecting PS1 and PS2 games lately I decided to devote most of my playing to King Of Fighters 98: Ultimate Match. Though even then there was a decision about which PS2 version to buy seeing as how KOF 98 was also featured on a compilation disc called King Of Fighters: Orochi Saga. In the end I chose Ultimate Match based mostly on the fact that I could find the game for a bit cheaper, it apparently contained more characters, and it included a nice KOF poster and bonus DVD. I'm a total sucker for "extras."
I have played a fair share of SNK fighters in the past -- namely Fatal Fury -- but all in all, I'm a lot more familiar and comfortable with Capcom fighting games. As it turned out King Of Fighters 98 played completely differently. The biggest thing for me to get used to was using three fighters out of a pool of characters that I really wasn't familiar with. This proved to be an especially daunting task to me, as I was used to the concept of choosing one character and familiarizing myself with their moves by experiencing lots of fights as them. Instead I was forced to pick three fighters from a huge roster and try to grasp how to use each.
[img width=100 height=100]http://i.imgur.com/VcjSo.png[/img] [img width=100 height=100]http://i.imgur.com/u5E1P.png[/img] [img width=100 height=100]http://i.imgur.com/uQOef.png[/img]
The team that I created is pictured above. First I chose Terry Bogard, based totally on the fact that he was who I often used in Fatal Fury so I was pretty familiar with his moves. Then I chose Mai, because she's fast and has a rather fan favorite animation. And then finally I chose Choi because well... he reminds me of Freddy Krueger. Terry is pretty good. Mai is definitely awesome. And Choi is mostly crappy but fast. So whatever.
I'm still not really sure if the fighting system is just too deep for me, or if the AI is too cheap for me, or if years of Capcom fighters have just left me a total idiot when it comes to any other fighting system, but I just could not seem to make it far in King Of Fighters 98. Generally I'd do really well for one or two fights, but by the third I was just getting completely destroyed. But what's odd is that I didn't find it to be a fun challenge. Instead I just found it annoying. Perhaps a big problem is that I could never quite find a third fighter to get good at. Though Choi was usable, I wasn't great with him. So really I was hoping to beat all three opponents with just Terry and Mai.
Though I didn't love the game itself, I am still impressed with the wonderful graphics. All of the fighters are just drenched with character. It's all so very SNK. Also playing the game to the point of aggravation did unintentionally re-kindle my love of Capcom Vs SNK 2. In fact, I even started using Mai in that game -- adding her to my team of Morrigan and Chun-Li. Oh and speaking of Chun-Li, I was using her Street Fighter II anniversary fighting pad to play the game, which did lend a level of comfort.
[img width=300 height=400]http://i.imgur.com/q5Vss.jpg[/img]
Our staff members here at RF Generation are a very important bunch. They're the ones making thousands of submissions and reviewing the thousands more of submissions that the rest of you make. They're also writing up some awesome blog articles that entertain and/or educate us. Without them, your submissions could never be approved and we wouldn't have so many great articles on our front page, they are one of the reasons our site is so great.
As our site grows, we're always looking to add to the staff with members that bring that certain devotion our staff members all possess. While we usually add new Database staff members to help with the ever-growing database, this time we're looking to add to our other side, the blog. The bloggers here at RFG are a wonderful crew that write most of what you see on our front page everyday, and now there is another one.
You've already seen many of his great blogs reviewing Atari games, now you expect to see even more of singlebanana's blogs right here on Channel 3 as he starts his blogging career as a Blog Writer.
But that's not all for the bloggers, noiseredux has also been promoted from Blog Writer to Blog Contributor! So you can expect to see even more from the Game Boy Player Land.
And of course, we can't forget about the Database crew. While there are no new additions, there have been two promotions. Shadow Kisuragi has been promoted to DB Reviewer, so expect him to be reviewing a portion of your future submissions. And finally, Paully3433 has been promoted to DB Editor, the top position for the DB staff, and a truly prestigious position.
So please take a moment to congratulate these fine gentlemen, they deserve it for all the work they've done and for all the work they'll be doing in the future.
PRESSURE COOKER
[img width=254 height=340]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KqLKZFRTHM8/SgX93HlNQCI/AAAAAAAAA5U/sMB8X--V4yM/s320/Pressure_cooker_boxart.jpg[/img]
SPECS:
Game: Pressure Cooker
Year: 1983
Publisher: Activision, Inc.
Developer: Activision, Inc.
Designer(s)/Programmer: Garry Kitchen
Rarity (according to AtariAge): 4 = scarce+
Controls: Joystick
Number of Players: 1 - 2 (turn based)
Average Cost: $5 - $10 loose
Also Available On: exclusive to the Atari 2600
Tagline/Description: "Sounds like lunchtime at 'The Grille.' And behind the counter? None other than Short-Order Sam. A man who was born in grease. Normally thrives under pressure. Except today. You see, Sam's automated kitchen is totally out to lunch. And, with hundreds of hungry customers waiting, he could sure use a helping hand. So grab your apron and get cookin'. Come on. After all, how can you turn down a man whose initials are S.O.S.?"
With the recent demise of Guitar Hero, I became inspired?? to review, Pressure Cooker, one of the more uncommon titles developed by Activision for the Atari 2600. During the 2600's lengthy run, Activision developed some of the best and most memorable titles for the system, including River Raid, Spider Fighter, Megamania, Kaboom!, H.E.R.O., and the game which holds the #2 spot on the 2600s all-time best seller list, Pitfall!. Pressure Cooker was developed in 1983 by Activision, a company formed by group of former disgruntled Atari employees who founded their own company in 1979 and became the first third party software company to sell their wares to Atari during the 2600 era. Recently (in 2007), Activision merged with Blizzard Entertainment, the company at the forefront of PC gaming, to form the video gaming Megalodon, Activision Blizzard, Inc.
[img width=237 height=300]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VTa96vVto6w/SRehW0n7NiI/AAAAAAAAAEk/pMqFe-rhwag/s320/victayback.jpg[/img]
Pressure Cooker is one of the first in a long line of action/kitchen video games that includes Burgertime, Piece o Cake, Diner Dash, and the more current Cooking Mama, to name a few. Its a frantic and fun-filled kitchen adventure in which you control a short-order cook whose job is to fill fast-paced hamburger orders. While burgers and buns move down a conveyor belt on the left side of the screen, ingredients fly at you from dispensers on the right. Your job is to catch or reject these ingredients (which consist of cheese, onions, tomatoes, and lettuce) and place them on the burger to accurately fill customer orders at the bottom of the screen. Once you have assembled your burger, it's off to the wrapping room to drop it off in the correct, color-coded wrapping machine and begin the process all over again. Be sure to catch or reject all the ingredients and don't let any hamburgers fall off the end of the conveyor belt, or you'll lose performance points! If your performance score drops to zero, you are fired and the game ends. As you successfully create orders, the game difficulty increases as the conveyor belt gets faster and the orders become more complex.
Overall Points vs. Performance Points
In Pressure Cooker, the scoring system is based on an overall points system, while instead of having lives your characters survival in the kitchen is determined by performance points. You begin with 50 performance points and these can be deducted or increased (to a maximum of 99) by poor or good performance respectively. For every 10,000 overall points that you score, you gain 10 additional performance points. You will lose performance points for the following reasons:
Wasting or doubling up on an ingredient = -1 point;
Dropping the hamburger in the wrong colored chute or missing the chute = -5 points; or
A hamburger falls off of the conveyor belt = -10 points.
Once you run out of performance points, the game is over. Overall points are gained by catching ingredients (+5), dropping correct ingredients on a burger (+10), and dropping a burger into the correct wrapping chute (+100). Bonus efficiency points are also awarded at the end of each round. Scoring over 45,000 overall points could have won you a bitchin mail-in patch from Activision back in the day.
[img width=250 height=325]http://www.atarimania.com/goodies/hi_res/pressure_cooker_patch.jpg[/img]
**check out all of the Activision patches at AtariAge**
http://www.atariage.com/2...s/activision_patches.html
Pressure Cooker is a great game and even though I'm partial to shmups like Spider Fighter and Megamania, its one of my favorite Activision titles. The graphics are colorful and actually pretty nice and well-defined. Cheese is represented as an orange square, but then again, cheese is basically.....well, an orange square. The controls are one of the more disappointing aspects of the game. The precision needed in grabbing ingredients and rejecting them can be cumbersome at times due to the rigidness of the Atari joystick and losing performance points because of this can be frustrating. The music and sounds of the game are fluid, but the music does become rather tedious and tiring after only a short time.
However, what really separates Pressure Cooker from other 2600 titles, and makes it stand out, is its very original concept and its replay value. Though a kitchen-based platform doesn't seem like the most interesting of games, the focus required to react and the quick decisions that players must make to read the orders at the bottom of the screen, catch moving ingredients, place them on moving buns, and drop them in the correct wrapping chute, creates a gameplay environment that borrows from and incorporates the best concepts used in puzzle, strategy, and tower defense games. Such challenging and fast-paced action always makes you want to come back for more. Pressure Cooker is a great game, and at a fairly affordable price, is a must own for any Activision and/or Atari 2600 fan.
**video courtesy of AwesomeRickyC**
b]RATINGS (on a scale of 1-4: 4 being the highest):[/b]
Controls: 2
Graphics: 4
Sound Effects/Music: 3
Concept: 4
Replay Value: 3
Cart/Box Art: 2
Overall Score: 3.00
[img width=550 height=764]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/ZW.jpg[/img]
Continue reading Unloved #23: Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros Treasure
| Most Hated Gaming Missions | This weekend I was blessed with the unthinkable - an absolutely blank calendar. For the first time in nearly two months, the madness known as 'social obligations' had thankfully subsided for a couple of days. My internal battery had been running on fumes for quite a while, so this break was more than welcomed. I was not about to waste this momentary reprieve. What better way to recharge than to bust out a new video game! | With my freedom firmly secured, I ripped open Two Worlds II with a passion that would rival even the best TV evangelist. Within minutes, my Hero was once again dispatching the dark minions that foolishly chose to take up residence in the mythical world of Antaloor. My melee warrior grew more powerful by the hour as he decimated the parasites that stood in his path. Similar to his experience meter, I could actually feel myself being reenergized as my gaming night progressed; sort of like my soul 'leveling up'. Life was once again in balance for me, or so it would seem until a ridiculous mission reared its ugly mug before my virtual GI - a stealth assignment!  This wasn't the part that stumped me in TW II, but it is completely applicable to my anguish. |
Are you kidding me? I had carefully crafted my Hero to be the super tank for all ages, but now he was obligated to complete some seemingly random, clandestine operation for the story to progress. What's up with that nonsense? The bliss enjoyed merely moments ago quickly vanished. Necessitating this unnatural tactic upon my champion was the equivalent to a swift kick to my spiritual grill. I love a good challenge and all, but sometimes jamming a square peg into a round hole just doesn't cut it. Frustrated to no end, I quickly hit the Save button and ended my gaming session. I sat there thinking to myself how much I truly despised this type of Alter-Ego adventure. If I were top dog overseeing this game project, after several failed attempts I would have allowed an "Annihilate All" gamer option of dealing with the problem at hand. Sure, the rewards would not be as great as accomplishing the goal as originally instructed, but at least the player could proceed and continue to get their game on. The following are other types of missions that truly tend to spike my blood pressure, and not in a good way. | | | Timed Missions |
 The GTA series is known for their timed missions, and I respect that. Too bad I suck at them. |
Being a more casual gamer, I prefer to enjoy the gaming experience at a steady pace rather than always being in 5th gear. Timed Missions are my antithesis. Initially, I love the adrenaline flow that immediately occurs when that ticking clock unexpectedly pops up in the right hand corner of your display. But once the countdown begins in full earnest, I am singing a completely different tune - one of panic and stress. Don't get me wrong, I do like the pressure that accompanies missions of this sort. That being said, I don't want to put through the agony of attempting to complete a timed objective 30 consecutive times just to continue the story (I am looking at you GTA). Yeah, I know, this type may be targeted by me due to my gaming futility. But regardless if I stink, it wouldn't kill the developers to throw me a few outs, or workarounds, at the very least. | | Bad Vehicle Missions |
 Driving that Mako in the original Mass Effect was anything but enjoyable. |
I love driving a rad car/boat/ship/etc. as much as the next guy, but it needs to be properly executed. There are very few things worse than sticking it to the man with a crappily controlled mode of transportation. It is frustrating as hell to maneuver a poorly engineered (programmed) POS, but on top of that to expect us to achieve any sort of objective is ludicrous. I don't care if it is a horse, hover craft, whatever, please triple the time you spend on QA testing in this area prior to incorporating into any game. Like my parents preached to me as an adolescent, just because you can do something son doesn't necessarily mean you should (a lesson Mass Effect 2 thankfully took to heart). | Escort Missions |
 Zombie killing machine one moment, protecting an innocent the next. Shame on you RE 4. |
You know the drill. Deliver some random, computer controlled being/convoy from Point A to Point B, hoping they don't get massacred along the way. I think developers want us to feel some type of emotional attachment to these NPC idiots. First off, I really don’t give a rat's ass if they get butchered - I am just doing this quest for the loot and experience points. Secondly, if you are going to burden me with this dolt, at least program them properly. It's bad enough that I have to protect someone who only has a sliver of HP/protection to begin with compared to our foes, but then you saddle them with programming afflictions as well. All of them are either slow of foot, unfocused, confused or too brave for their own good. Give them (and me) a fighting chance for goodness sake! | | I realize that I may be somewhat venting due to the cruel twist of fate that befell my gaming session this weekend. Regardless, every gamer out there has certain types of missions that they absolutely hate. I'd love to hear about yours, but I just found out that my lady friend scheduled a dinner party for this evening (without my knowledge) and I have to run. I guess the internal recharging for this INTJ is coming to an end. In all honesty, that 'stealth assignment' for my Two Worlds II warrior is looking pretty good to me right about now.  | | What Gaming Missions Do You Completely Hate? | |
VANGUARD
[img width=264 height=332]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4068/4353036519_6418245b98.jpg[/img]
SPECS:
Game: Vanguard
Year: 1982
Publisher: Atari, Inc.
Developer: SNK Corporation
Designer(s)/Programmer: David W. Payne
Rarity (according to AtariAge): 2 = common+
Controls: Joystick
Number of Players: 1 - 2 (turn based)
Average Cost: $.50 - $2 loose, under $10 CIB
Also Available On: Atari 5200, originally an arcade coin-op (Vanguard II later released, arcade only).
Tagline/Description: "Join the Vanguard expedition on a thrilling space odyssey. Through perilous tunnels you will fight your way to the fabulous City of Mystery and the great Gond."
Vanguard is a vertical and side-scrolling cave shooter for the Atari 2600. Your goal is to pilot your spaceship to the City of Mystery, which is located at the end of a heavily guarded tunnel, to battle the creature Gond. Your spaceship is equipped with lasers that can fire in four different directions, however your speed is decreased when firing. You will also need to keep an eye on your fuel gauge, a solid bar, located at the bottom of your screen. Your fuel depletes at a rapid rate, and your ship will crash if it runs out; fuel is replenished by destroying enemies. The tunnel is broken up into several different zones, called the mountain zone, rainbow zone, stick zone, stripe zone, bleak zone, and City of Mystery. Each zone features a variety of enemy spaceships to dispatch and earn points. In the mountain and stripe zones, you will come across energy pods marked with an 'E'. When you pilot through these pods, your ship temporarily becomes invincible to the deadly cave walls and enemies which are trying to stop you. When you finally make it through all the various zones of the tunnel and defeat Gond, the game will repeat at a more difficult skill level.
Early 80's Atari commercial for Vanguard. Every good video gaming home needs a Luther.
What makes Vanguard such a great game for the 2600 is it's concept. As many of you already know, the majority of games produced for the Atari system (besides sports titles) have no real ending and were primarily points based. Vanguard not only allowed the player to accumulate points, but also had one of the earliest defined endings in a video game, which also incorporated a boss. Though Gond, the overlord of the City of Mystery, is a one-shot pushover, the ultimate goal and challenge of Vanguard is to successfully navigate the tunnel and make it to the boss. Modern day gamers might be disappointed at such a lackluster boss battle. However, and I speak as someone who grew up on the 2600, because I grew up with no preconceived expectations of what a "boss battle" was, this ending was quite epic.
The fierce and all-powerful GOND!!!! (insert sarcasm here)
[img width=350 height=275]http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/images/thumb/7/73/Vanguard_-_A26_-_6.png/256px-Vanguard_-_A26_-_6.png[/img]
Vanguard is not the easiest game to finish and since the game repeats at a much quicker and more difficult skill level, one could argue that there is no strictly defined ending. Before battling Gond, you must navigate through seven (7) zones (the rainbow zone is repeated a few times). There are always a plethora of enemies on the screen: ones that shoot back at you, as well as those that attempt to ram your spaceship. The developers of Vanguard made sure that players are never comfortable for long within the tunnel; in some zones, you travel from left to right, while at other times the game becomes a vertical shooter in which you must navigate from down to up, or up to down. Since the game is a 4-way, multi-directional shooter, players must make full use of the joystick and fire button, since enemies approach from all directions. Areas within the cavern can get very tight on occasion and my only complaint with the controls is that your ship may move slightly when trying to direct your fire with the joystick. Since Atari controls are typically very stiff anyway, attempting to fire in a specific direction can cause you to lose control of your ship and plow into an enemy.
Though the handling can be a little frustrating at times, Vanguard is an excellent port for the Atari 2600. The graphics are superb under such limitations and the exceedingly vibrant use of color creates an other worldly atmosphere. Though Vanguard lacks a soundtrack, it's omission is masked by the constant zinging of lasers and exploding enemy starcrafts. The lone piece of music in the game occurs upon collecting an energy pod. Fans of 1980's "Flash Gordon" and/or Queen may recognize a familiar tune entitled "Vultan's Theme: Attack of the Hawkman" (http://www.the-top-tens.c...s-theme-attack-197148.asp). Some dispute their similarities, but it's quite hard to brush it off as coincidence.
Vanguard is one of a handful of tight scrolling shooters for the 2600, similar to Fantastic Voyage and Super Cobra (a Scrabble clone). If you are a fan of early shmups, this title can easily be picked up at a great price either individually or in a large lot of 2600 commons.
**video courtesy of googoo11672
RATINGS (on a scale of 1-4: 4 being the highest):
Controls: 3
Graphics: 4
Sound Effects/Music: 3
Concept: 4
Replay Value: 3
Cart/Box Art: 2
Overall Score: 3.17
Here we are again! 7 episodes down and we have another new feature: The Sports Page!
00:00 - Intro
01:18 - What's New on Channel 3?
01:45 - Gaming News
23:15 - Game Shout Out!
33:34 - The Sports Page
39:33 - Top 5
40:11 - Outro
Continue reading RF Generation Nation - Episode 7: You Spoony Bard!
There's no denying that the Game Boy -- and handhelds in general -- are well-suited for puzzle games. The portable nature of a handheld system just seems so perfect for the quick burst of playing that most puzzle games demand. And yet there are two puzzle games for the original Game Boy that I never seem to hear too much about. Which is, err... puzzling seeing as how they're both brilliant little cartridges.
[img width=300 height=300]http://i.imgur.com/5qQ8X.jpg[/img]
[img width=200 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/vuoDY.jpg[/img] [img width=200 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/14Pg1.jpg[/img]
Puzzle Boy first came to the US in 1990 under the new title Kwirk. Developed by Atlus, the titular Puzzle Boy was a potato in his birthplace, Japan. However when he made his way oversees new publisher Acclaim decided that a walking potato was far too strange for US gamers. So they made the natural decision to change Puzzle Boy to a walking tomato. With sunglasses. Named Kwirk.
Kwirk is a fantastic puzzle game. It is simple and elegant and challenging without being infuriating. It's the sort of game that teaches you how to play it without ever being condescending. Instead the game slowly ramps up its difficulty, introducing new elements which will slowly cause you to continue to think outside the box until you "get it."
The basic premise is this: you are a tomato. You arrive in one part of a room, and need to get to the exit. In order to do so you will need to push some objects out of your way. It's so incredibly basic, yet just amazingly well put together. It's the sort of game that is generally overlooked (maybe because of the silly box art?) and yet once you sit down with it you can blow an afternoon on it without even realizing it. This isn't a puzzle game of hand-eye coordination like Tetris though. This is a logic puzzle game. A real chin-stroker.
[img width=300 height=300]http://i.imgur.com/r4Ev7.jpg[/img]
[img width=200 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/JWQUU.jpg[/img] [img width=200 height=200]http://i.imgur.com/f711q.jpg[/img]
When it came time to bring Puzzle Boy II to the US, Atlus decided to do it themselves. They ditched the Acclaim-branded redesign in favor of their original potato. However since there was no game called Puzzle Boy in the US, they opted to give this one a new title -- Amazing Tater. The decision to not call the game Kwirk II tends to make the connection between these two games fuzzy in most gamers' memories. In fact what Amazing Tater is most well-known for nowadays is being a rare game published by Atlus. Indeed, it is one of the more sought-after and expensive Game Boy carts on the aftermarket.
To say that Amazing Tater is "more of the same" might sound like a put-down, but in fact this is a good thing. The formula that had been so perfected in Kwirk is still in place, and really doesn't need to be tweaked too much. Really any fans of the original game are going to want only one thing after completing it -- more puzzles. And that's exactly what this is. Although it goes for far more money than the first game, most fans will want them both. And once you sit down with either for an extended period of time, you'll understand exactly why that is.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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For those interested, here's a taste, the intro video from the level Bart's Department Store:
DARK CAVERN
[img width=291 height=400]http://www.bomberoza.net/data/collections/consoles/games/atari-2600-darkcavern.jpg[/img]
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).
[img width=175 height=200]http://www.virtualatari.org/images/Dark_Cavern.jpg[/img][img width=175 height=200]http://i17.ebayimg.com/06/i/001/31/c1/d0d5_35.JPG[/img]
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)
**video courtesy of AtariGuide.com
Night Stalker (Intellivision)
**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
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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.
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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.
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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
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