Archive for the ‘Nostalgia’ Category

Robots in disguise… disguised as decent tie-in games?!

Apparently the tie-in games for Transformers might actually be good. Gamespot’s take, IGN’s look at the console versions, IGN’s look at the DS version.

Gamespot’s is a bit more in-depth than IGN’s, of particular note is this little tidbit:

However, our favorite part of the bonus material is the inclusion of a number of playable “generation one” Transformer characters. You can expect to either terrorize or defend the populace with Optimus Prime, Megatron, or Jazz (among others) in all their old-school glory. The game will even feature some bonus missions featuring Transformers that weren’t included in the film. We got to see a sequence with Prime fighting Shockwave, who looked very similar to his original incarnation from way back when. However, this version of Shockwave will be a triple-changer, which means he has robot, turret, and helicopter forms.

Apparently Vicarious Visions is also using the same exactly 3D model files created by Industrial Light and Magic, and the film’s score composer is doing the music for the game. The Autobots storyline of each game follows the movie, while the Decepticons is sort of an ‘alternate future’ version where it tells the plot, but the bad guys come out on top.

Sweet. Let’s just hope these initial views aren’t misguided.

June 13th, 2007 · Tags Cartoons, Movies, Nostalgia, Transformers, Video Games | Comments Off

Super Mario Bros.: the really, *really* lost levels

Most people who know about Super Mario Bros. know about the infamous Minus World glitch. Basically, you slide through a wall, you go down a pipe, you end up in a world that doesn’t really exist; hence, instead of displaying 1-1 or 2-1, it displays -1. (Incidentally, here’s an explanation of why the Minus World works - or rather, doesn’t.)

However, for a while in Japan, the game was re-released on the Famicom Disk System. The FDS was a Japanese-only Nintendo-proprietary floppy-disk game system. And, you might think, surely re-releasing Super Mario Bros. onto a different format entirely might change the way the Minus World works, right?

Well, you’d be right. Watch this video to see how right you are:

Fascinating. The FDS version of the Minus World kind of works!

April 4th, 2007 · Tags Nintendo, Nostalgia, Video, Video Games, YouTube | Comments Off

Whither Vic Viper?

Radiant Silvergun

Today, Destructoid asks: where have all the spaceships gone?

When did you last play a space shooter? Better yet, if you’re under the age of 20, have you ever played a space shooter? Back when it was a popular genre, we used to run to the local 7-11 with a fistful of mom’s laundry money, eager to plow through a hectic sea of deadly asteroids and insect-shaped enemy craft.

Since those days when high scores meant something, it seems every other genre that existed at the time has grown and evolved into something amazing. Rally-x paved the way for Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport. Pitfall became Tomb Raider. Even other classes of shooters like Contra have led to great games like Gears of War.

Why, then, have space shooters hit a darwinian roadblock? If Metroid can move through generations and still be fun, why can’t Galaga?

It’s a valid question. I think I’ve been looking for a good space shooter myself; the last one of any real worth I played was Ikaruga, and there’ve been times I’ve debated getting a Sega Saturn just so I can go back and play Radiant Silvergun (especially since someone’s finished translating the rather epic story). Heck, I’ve even thought of picking up R-Type Final for the PS2. And yet I haven’t. (Actually, the last ’shooter’ I bought in any fashion? Gradius, on the virtual console. Prior to that? Rez. I love Rez to death, but that’s another story altogether.)

Dtoid asks at the end:

What do you think, robot friends? Would you jump at the chance to play a 3-D spaceship game built for the 360, or do you think this genre is no longer viable and should be forgotten about?

I have to say I’m unsure - at least, about the 3-D part. I think part of the appeal of the space shooter is simply that it is uncomplicated in terms of gameplay (now, as for staying alive? that can be deadly). Putting things in 3-D naturally introduces all the complications that come with trying to dodge shots that are now coming from in front of you; depth is really hard to judge when you have no shadow, it seems. (On the other hand, there is Rez. Rez is not about the challenge, though.)

Maybe I should break out XNA Game Studio when I get home - I’m almost itching to try my finger at doing this myself, and the overhead or side-scrolling shooter is pretty much the standard demo project for just about every game development system ever. Hey, it’s worth a shot.

Worth four simultaneous shots, in fact, if I have Options.

Gradius

March 7th, 2007 · Tags Development, Nostalgia, PS2, Video Games, Wii | Comments Off