It’s going to be a short one today because ‘Pogo’ is... well... it's ‘Q*bert’ - and what new could I possibly find to say about ‘Q*bert’?
Lets see...
Saturday 30 May 2020
Day 69: Pogo (ZX Spectrum)
The ZX Spectrum returns in my ongoing efforts to play one randomly selected title from my 564 game backlog for every day that the UK is in lockdown...
Day 68: To the Earth (NES)
Busting out the NES Zapper in my ongoing efforts to play one randomly selected title from my 565 game backlog for every day that the UK is in lockdown...
Did you know there are only seventeen games for the NES ‘Zapper’ accessory? That’s sixteen games that no-one has ever played because they aren’t ‘Duck Hunt’.
Okay. That’s not fair.
I know there are fans out there of ‘Wild Gunman’, ‘Gum Shoe’, ‘Hogan’s Alley’, ‘Operation Wolf’, and ‘Freedom Force’. And a lot of people know of ‘Bayou Billy’, and ‘Barker Bill’.
But I reckon that about does it for the Zapper games that most people could name off the top of their head; not even half of them, by my maths.
Which is a shame because there’s a couple of games in the ‘other’ half that are better than most of the better known games. I don’t own SNK’s ‘Mechanized Attack’ as it’s US only, but I was able to play it at a game show a few years back and it’s definitely one of the better games for the peripheral and deserving of attention for more than it’s infamous debug screen.
And then there’s ‘To the Earth’, which, incidentally, has possibly my favourite box art on the system; the lettering alone is pure joy to behold.
Friday 29 May 2020
Day 67: NBA Playgrounds (PC)
Hitting the courts in my ongoing effort to play one randomly selected title from my 566 game backlog for every day that the UK is in lockdown...
"All opinions are valid" is a nonsense statement.
On a more important scale than video games there are far too many opinions based on prejudice or ignorance that have been expressed loudly, and protected inadequately, by the concept that an ill-informed opinion has the same value as an informed one.
Back in the world of video games this isn’t as dangerous or scary, but it's still annoying.
I touched the problem way back on Day 14 with Mr Shifty; a game that isn't, and isn't trying to be, Hotline Miami - but was still criticised often for not being Hotline Miami; which is not a valid opinion.
NBA Playgrounds is not NBA Jam. This is obviously a fact, but it's also been expressed often as a negative opinion. However, the validity of this rests on the answer to a different question:
Is NBA Playgrounds trying to be NBA Jam?
Thursday 28 May 2020
Day 66: Henry Hatsworth in The Puzzling Adventure (Nintendo DS)
This fun hybrid platform/puzzler is the latest randomly selected title from my 566 game backlog, from which I'm playing one a day while the UK is in lockdown...
Henry Hatsworth in The Puzzling Adventure for the DS
Previous days' entries can be read HERE
I was recently reading a review on Eurogamer of a Nintendo DS game called 'Scurge: Hive' (a cracking isometric Metroidvania), in which the writer was lamenting the fact that so many DS games only used the lower display as a map screen.
I don’t deny this is a fair point, but it is one mostly limited (luckily) to the sort of game I don’t really play.
I’m actually struggling to recall a game (other than 'Scurge: Hive', obviously) that didn’t have some practical or interesting use for the second screen. Even Sonic Rush (which I bounced off pretty hard on day 56) looked beautiful split across the dual screens, and now here’s 'Henry Hatsworth', the very next DS game I play, wherein the second screen is not just used well, but used to play almost a completely different game to that being played on the top.
This is a game that combines an action-platformer, played on the top screen, with a match-three puzzler, played on the bottom. And ‘combines’ is the correct word, it would have been easy for the two, very different, games to seem disjointed or only have a faint connection, but Hatsworth brilliantly manages to ensure that actions in one game directly affect events in the other.
Wednesday 27 May 2020
Day 65: Gyron (ZX Spectrum)
A genuinely fascinating title is the latest random selection from my 567 game backlog. I'm playing one a day, every day, for as long as the UK is in lockdown...
I never really intended these blog entries to be as ‘reviewy’ as they have become. I don’t have a problem with it, it’s natural to lean that way when writing about a game you’ve just played, especially when the method of writing is as unstructured as mine is. (Play game - Open blog - Write until I’ve got nothing else to say - Pass to wife to edit).
In the case of 'Gyron' I’m going to get the review out of the way early and in far fewer words than usual:
It's a fascinating feat of programming with incredibly creative tools to aid your navigation around a fully realised 3D labyrinth. It’s devious, it’s hard, it’s impressive, it’s addictive, and it looks utterly amazing for a 48k Spectrum game from 1985 [a year older than the aforementioned wife! - Ed]
The rest of this post is just going to be some stuff I find fascinating about this game.
By the way, this is all info I’ve gleaned from the internet so if you are familiar with the game already then there’ll be nothing new here. Sorry.
In the case of 'Gyron' I’m going to get the review out of the way early and in far fewer words than usual:
It's a fascinating feat of programming with incredibly creative tools to aid your navigation around a fully realised 3D labyrinth. It’s devious, it’s hard, it’s impressive, it’s addictive, and it looks utterly amazing for a 48k Spectrum game from 1985 [a year older than the aforementioned wife! - Ed]
The rest of this post is just going to be some stuff I find fascinating about this game.
By the way, this is all info I’ve gleaned from the internet so if you are familiar with the game already then there’ll be nothing new here. Sorry.
Tuesday 26 May 2020
Day 64: Pixeljunk Shooter (PC)
One title picked at random from my 568 game backlog. One a day, every day, as long as the UK is in lockdown...
Despite playing this game on PC, the Pixeljunk brand is one I can’t help but mentally associate with PlayStation, largely due to the acclaim it received on the PSN platform all the way back in 2009. I feel the ‘console wars’ of the PS3/360 era were the most prevalent since the SNES/Megadrive days, and I expect this played no small part in an indie game getting heralded as much as this was.
It took a year and half to appear on PC in any form and, evidently, another decade after that for me to get around to playing it.
It’s a bit strange to say that a game ‘isn’t what I was expecting’ when all I’ve had to go on is a name.
Pixeljunk Shooter is one of those ‘picked it up in a bundle’ games, but, as I've said before, I don’t keep games I get in bundles unless there’s something about them that appeals to me. In this case that’s very likely to have been the words ‘Pixel’ and ‘Shooter’ in the title.
This could have left me hoist by my own ‘expectation is the mother of disappointment’ shaped petard, as the game not only doesn’t feature any pixels, but it’s also not really a shooter.
It took a year and half to appear on PC in any form and, evidently, another decade after that for me to get around to playing it.
It’s a bit strange to say that a game ‘isn’t what I was expecting’ when all I’ve had to go on is a name.
Pixeljunk Shooter is one of those ‘picked it up in a bundle’ games, but, as I've said before, I don’t keep games I get in bundles unless there’s something about them that appeals to me. In this case that’s very likely to have been the words ‘Pixel’ and ‘Shooter’ in the title.
This could have left me hoist by my own ‘expectation is the mother of disappointment’ shaped petard, as the game not only doesn’t feature any pixels, but it’s also not really a shooter.
Monday 25 May 2020
Day 63: Yanya Caballista City Skater (PS2)
Back to obscurity as I continue to play one title from my 570 game backlog for every day that the UK is in lockdown...
At some point last year I became obsessed with getting a copy of this game, not because I’d heard it was particularly good or interesting or rare, but because of the ‘fingerboard’ controller accessory you can see pictured above.
I love stuff like this; odd little experiments and gimmicks that developers come up with for their games. Things like the Lenslok anti piracy device, the little paddle controller that came with ‘Puchi Carat’, and even Namco’s fantastic ‘NegCon’ controller that I mentioned yesterday, all have enthralled me at various points in my games collecting history.
So it wasn’t a surprise that Yanya Cabalista’s tiny skateboard deck attachment caught my attention.
I set up an eBay alert and waited patiently. Eventually, about two months after I started looking, I was able to get a Japanese copy with the board for a decent price. Weirdly, a day or two after that, an American copy was listed ‘disc only’ for a pittance so I snapped that up too.
Annoyingly, when I went to play the games, neither would load using my Swap Magic discs, so they went onto the shelf as curios for the foreseeable future.
Yesterday, however, I started having some loading issues with ‘Ridge Racer V’. I was poking around in my PS2 and realised the brake release pin on the disc lid wasn’t working properly and this was slowing the disc down. As I fixed this issue I was reminded of the Swap Magic problems, so I tried it again, and it worked right away!
Long story short, (too late!?) today I’m playing the American version of ‘Yanya Caballista’, with the fingerboard from the Japanese version, on my European PS2 Slim, using Swap Magic 3.6.
I love stuff like this; odd little experiments and gimmicks that developers come up with for their games. Things like the Lenslok anti piracy device, the little paddle controller that came with ‘Puchi Carat’, and even Namco’s fantastic ‘NegCon’ controller that I mentioned yesterday, all have enthralled me at various points in my games collecting history.
So it wasn’t a surprise that Yanya Cabalista’s tiny skateboard deck attachment caught my attention.
I set up an eBay alert and waited patiently. Eventually, about two months after I started looking, I was able to get a Japanese copy with the board for a decent price. Weirdly, a day or two after that, an American copy was listed ‘disc only’ for a pittance so I snapped that up too.
Annoyingly, when I went to play the games, neither would load using my Swap Magic discs, so they went onto the shelf as curios for the foreseeable future.
Yesterday, however, I started having some loading issues with ‘Ridge Racer V’. I was poking around in my PS2 and realised the brake release pin on the disc lid wasn’t working properly and this was slowing the disc down. As I fixed this issue I was reminded of the Swap Magic problems, so I tried it again, and it worked right away!
Long story short, (too late!?) today I’m playing the American version of ‘Yanya Caballista’, with the fingerboard from the Japanese version, on my European PS2 Slim, using Swap Magic 3.6.
Sunday 24 May 2020
Day 62: Ridge Racer V (PS2)
The only Riiiiiidge Racer I've never played features in my ongoing efforts to play one title from my 571 game backlog for every day that the UK is in lockdown...
I kind of love Ridge Racer. I've had most of the games in the series from new with only Rage Racer and this added to the collection later on. As a matter of fact I just checked Wikipedia to see if I owned every Ridge Racer, and ended up ordering RR64 for the N64. Other than that, the only one I don’t have is Ridge Racer Vita - but then I don’t actually own a Vita (yet) so that would be a bit pointless.
So yeah, bit of a fan.
Why ‘Ridge Racer V’ has sat unplayed since I picked it up a couple of years ago, I don't know. I always struggle to see PS2 games as particularly 'special' though, which I know is ridiculous, but I guess that might have something to do with it.
That notwithstanding, it’s weird that I haven’t played a game I own from a series I really like - especially as it supports the brilliant NegCon controller; Namco’s proprietary device that is, for my money, the best way to play driving games that isn’t a steering wheel.
So yeah, bit of a fan.
Why ‘Ridge Racer V’ has sat unplayed since I picked it up a couple of years ago, I don't know. I always struggle to see PS2 games as particularly 'special' though, which I know is ridiculous, but I guess that might have something to do with it.
That notwithstanding, it’s weird that I haven’t played a game I own from a series I really like - especially as it supports the brilliant NegCon controller; Namco’s proprietary device that is, for my money, the best way to play driving games that isn’t a steering wheel.
Saturday 23 May 2020
Day 61: Soft Aid (C64)
I'm usually playing 1 title a day from my 581 backlog every day that the UK is in lockdown, but today I played 10...
The game actually chosen by Selectron™ today was ‘Beam Rider’, a C64 game that’s part of a compilation called ‘Soft Aid’ - nothing to do with impotence awareness - this was actually launched in 1985 to coincide with the original Band Aid and Live Aid projects.
It features 10 games all donated to the compilation so that the proceeds could go to charity, although I came to own it as part of a stack of games I got from eBay many years after the original release.
As this compilation is on a cassette the inlay helpfully indicates the position of the tape counter for each of the games, but when I fast forwarded to the position shown and tried load 'Beam Rider' it wouldn’t work.
I tried all the other counter-positions for the other titles until eventually one started to load, albeit not the one I was expecting.
It turns out none of the numbers on the inlay bear any relation to the actual positions of the games on the cassette.
Even even the counter-number for the first game is wrong as each side of the tape starts with a copy of the ‘Do they know it’s Christmas?’ Luckily I was able to work out the true starting position by leaving the tape playing for 3 minutes and 50 seconds (the playtime of the single) and from there I worked my way through the whole compilation noting the new counter digits as I went.
And thus, one write up became ten.
It features 10 games all donated to the compilation so that the proceeds could go to charity, although I came to own it as part of a stack of games I got from eBay many years after the original release.
As this compilation is on a cassette the inlay helpfully indicates the position of the tape counter for each of the games, but when I fast forwarded to the position shown and tried load 'Beam Rider' it wouldn’t work.
I tried all the other counter-positions for the other titles until eventually one started to load, albeit not the one I was expecting.
It turns out none of the numbers on the inlay bear any relation to the actual positions of the games on the cassette.
Even even the counter-number for the first game is wrong as each side of the tape starts with a copy of the ‘Do they know it’s Christmas?’ Luckily I was able to work out the true starting position by leaving the tape playing for 3 minutes and 50 seconds (the playtime of the single) and from there I worked my way through the whole compilation noting the new counter digits as I went.
And thus, one write up became ten.
Friday 22 May 2020
Day 60: Star Wars: Dark Forces (PC)
Playing one title from my 582 game backlog while the UK is in lockdown...
Back on May 4th I started my post by saying I had two candidates from the franchise to play in honour of ‘Star Wars Day’ and ultimately chose ‘Rogue Squadron’ on the N64 because the other option required installation. This was that ‘other’ game; ‘Star Wars: Dark Forces’.
If memory serves me correctly this was part of a whole bundle of Star Wars games I bought from GOG a couple of years ago. At the time I asked around the internet to check if it was a good option for a non-Star Wars fan and the consensus seemed to be positive, and Dark Forces was one of the reasons why.
As a PC game released in 1992,this is not something that comes with Xbox One controller support as standard and, as I don’t believe in playing with keyboard and mouse, I had a little fun setting up joy-to-key before I could get stuck in, and then tweaking my assumptions during the first mission.
Fun fact: The XB1 controller has exactly one too few buttons to assign every command you’d like in Dark Forces, but luckily I haven’t found a reason for the dedicated map screen as the overlaid version is so useful.
Also, I know there are plenty available, but other than joy-to-key I didn’t use any other mods or tweaks.
If memory serves me correctly this was part of a whole bundle of Star Wars games I bought from GOG a couple of years ago. At the time I asked around the internet to check if it was a good option for a non-Star Wars fan and the consensus seemed to be positive, and Dark Forces was one of the reasons why.
As a PC game released in 1992,this is not something that comes with Xbox One controller support as standard and, as I don’t believe in playing with keyboard and mouse, I had a little fun setting up joy-to-key before I could get stuck in, and then tweaking my assumptions during the first mission.
Fun fact: The XB1 controller has exactly one too few buttons to assign every command you’d like in Dark Forces, but luckily I haven’t found a reason for the dedicated map screen as the overlaid version is so useful.
Also, I know there are plenty available, but other than joy-to-key I didn’t use any other mods or tweaks.
Thursday 21 May 2020
Day 59: Chibi Robo!™ Zip Lash (3DS)
My ongoing efforts to play one title from my 584 game backlog for every day that the UK is in lockdown...
First up, Selectron™ actually chose ‘Sonic Rush’ on the DS for me to play. I dutifully abided, but playing it only succeeded in hammering the final nail in my Sonic shaped coffin.
See, I’ve never really enjoyed Sonic games. The only reason I even own Sonic Rush is that I saw it very cheap and it had “The best Sonic Game Ever!” emblazoned on the front.
So I thought, if any game can change my mind then surely it’s ‘The best Sonic game ever’?
Sadly not.
I just can’t get my head around when I should and shouldn’t get involved with the action in these games. I love a bit of old school design but this is trial and error taken too far; when do I let the blue blur pinball around the screen on his own and when do I step in to make something happen? Git gud? Probably.
There’s no doubt that ‘Sonic Rush’ is a spectacular looking game, and in particular I really enjoyed the soundtrack (which put me in mind of Jet Set Radio) but there’s just something about me and Sonic that don’t get on.
So, second time around Selectron™ chose “Chibi Robo!™ Ziplash”
See, I’ve never really enjoyed Sonic games. The only reason I even own Sonic Rush is that I saw it very cheap and it had “The best Sonic Game Ever!” emblazoned on the front.
So I thought, if any game can change my mind then surely it’s ‘The best Sonic game ever’?
Sadly not.
I just can’t get my head around when I should and shouldn’t get involved with the action in these games. I love a bit of old school design but this is trial and error taken too far; when do I let the blue blur pinball around the screen on his own and when do I step in to make something happen? Git gud? Probably.
There’s no doubt that ‘Sonic Rush’ is a spectacular looking game, and in particular I really enjoyed the soundtrack (which put me in mind of Jet Set Radio) but there’s just something about me and Sonic that don’t get on.
So, second time around Selectron™ chose “Chibi Robo!™ Ziplash”
Wednesday 20 May 2020
Day 58: Crack Down (Amiga)
A rare outing for my Amiga 600 as I continue to play one title a day from my 585 game backlog during UK lockdown...
You may have noticed that in this little intro section for these posts I sometimes like to give a background of the game in hand. Whether that’s on the development of the game, or it’s journey to my collection, I’ve always have a habit of ‘setting the scene’ and I hope you’ll indulge me at least one more time:
I first came to own this game, and a Commodore Amiga, when an old work colleague asked if I’d like some old computers he had, as he was clearing out to move abroad.
These ‘old computers’ turned out to be an Atari 400 and an Amiga 500.
In the collection of software for latter was, of course, Crack Down.
It was never my intention but I actually ended up selling both machines.
The Atari was non-functional beyond my skills to repair, but the Amiga 500 was just too big for any of the 4 different games rooms I’d had set up while I owned it, so I sold it and used the proceeds to pay for repairs to an Amiga 600 I had picked up for a tenner at a boot sale in the intervening years.
I first came to own this game, and a Commodore Amiga, when an old work colleague asked if I’d like some old computers he had, as he was clearing out to move abroad.
These ‘old computers’ turned out to be an Atari 400 and an Amiga 500.
In the collection of software for latter was, of course, Crack Down.
It was never my intention but I actually ended up selling both machines.
The Atari was non-functional beyond my skills to repair, but the Amiga 500 was just too big for any of the 4 different games rooms I’d had set up while I owned it, so I sold it and used the proceeds to pay for repairs to an Amiga 600 I had picked up for a tenner at a boot sale in the intervening years.
Tuesday 19 May 2020
Day 57: Spiderman (PS1)
Doing whatever a spider can in my ongoing efforts to play one title a day from my 586 game backlog...
Comic-book timelines and character iterations are complex at the best of times, but, although I'm not speaking from a position of any great knowledge, Spider-Man, Marvel's almost 60-year-old web-slinger, seems to gravitate more than most towards alternative versions; with many plot elements that are cannon to some arcs, but not to others.
Moreover, Spider-Man's fictional convolutions have manifested themselves into the 'real life' story of the IP, with the machinations around rights ownership between Sony and Disney being only the most recent in a long and twisted history.
On the plus side, this gave us the fantastic 'Spider-Man: Enter the Spider-verse' movie, perhaps the best animated superhero film ever. On the downside, as a member of a very casual audience, trying to figure out where this Spider-Man (No number, no subtitle) fits into the great scheme of things is a bit of a head-scratcher.
Moreover, Spider-Man's fictional convolutions have manifested themselves into the 'real life' story of the IP, with the machinations around rights ownership between Sony and Disney being only the most recent in a long and twisted history.
On the plus side, this gave us the fantastic 'Spider-Man: Enter the Spider-verse' movie, perhaps the best animated superhero film ever. On the downside, as a member of a very casual audience, trying to figure out where this Spider-Man (No number, no subtitle) fits into the great scheme of things is a bit of a head-scratcher.
Monday 18 May 2020
Day 56: Spec Ops. The Line (PC)
There's potential for subversity and spoilers as my assault on one title a day from my 587 game backlog continues with...
What’s the expiration date on a spoiler? I’ve seen some people say as little as six months, which seems ludicrous to me. More often a year is touted as a good amount of time before all info is fair game, but that also seems too soon for me; why should we expect everyone to have seen a film or played a game just twelve months after release? Sometimes it takes almost that long just to get a film to Blu Ray, or, in the case of video games, for a timed exclusivity deal to elapse.
Personally, I don’t think there is a need to ever spoil anything for anyone. That’s my rule. Ask me about Citizen Kane, a movie first released 60 years ago, and I’m going to tell you I think it’s quality and importance are overblown. Ask me more specifically about Charles Foster Kane’s last words, and I’ll tell you to go watch the film, form your own opinion, and find out for yourself.
So. Below, after the jump there is the potential for spoilers about Spec Ops. 'The Line'; an eight year old game that many, many people know all about already.
I’ll do my best to avoid specifics, however, if you have any interest in this game and (as I luckily had) have managed to avoid spoilers until now, I suggest you go and play it; it’s pretty much the best modern game about shooting soldiers in the face.
Otherwise, read on.
Oh, and get comfy; this is a long one.
Personally, I don’t think there is a need to ever spoil anything for anyone. That’s my rule. Ask me about Citizen Kane, a movie first released 60 years ago, and I’m going to tell you I think it’s quality and importance are overblown. Ask me more specifically about Charles Foster Kane’s last words, and I’ll tell you to go watch the film, form your own opinion, and find out for yourself.
So. Below, after the jump there is the potential for spoilers about Spec Ops. 'The Line'; an eight year old game that many, many people know all about already.
I’ll do my best to avoid specifics, however, if you have any interest in this game and (as I luckily had) have managed to avoid spoilers until now, I suggest you go and play it; it’s pretty much the best modern game about shooting soldiers in the face.
Otherwise, read on.
Oh, and get comfy; this is a long one.
Sunday 17 May 2020
Day 55: Everybody's Tennis (PS2)
It's Strawberries and Cream time as my quest to play one title a day from my 588 game backlog continues with...
I was recently perusing my PS2 collection and noticed that I had a game for every letter of the alphabet except ‘E’ and ‘Q’. Having a bit of an obsession with this kind of thing (as anyone who read my post on 'Xtreme Games' will know) I immediately set about putting this right.
I was always a big fan of ‘Everybody’s Golf’ on the original PlayStation. It’s a great, relaxing game to play alone, or a screaming deathmatch of rage and frustration when playing a friend - although that may have been due to my propensity for taking the flashiest, riskiest shot available while Dave, the friend who I’d more than likely be playing against, had a tendency towards a more practical approach. This led not just to many hours of entertainment, but also the coining of the verb to ‘Don Johnson’, a reference to the fine movie Tin Cup, meaning to play the safest, or most boring, shot available.
So with this in mind I ordered a copy of ‘Everybody’s Tennis’.
I’ll be grabbing a copy of ‘Quake Revolution’ at some point to round out the full A-Z, but as it’s not something I’d be in any hurry to play I figured this is not the time.
I was always a big fan of ‘Everybody’s Golf’ on the original PlayStation. It’s a great, relaxing game to play alone, or a screaming deathmatch of rage and frustration when playing a friend - although that may have been due to my propensity for taking the flashiest, riskiest shot available while Dave, the friend who I’d more than likely be playing against, had a tendency towards a more practical approach. This led not just to many hours of entertainment, but also the coining of the verb to ‘Don Johnson’, a reference to the fine movie Tin Cup, meaning to play the safest, or most boring, shot available.
So with this in mind I ordered a copy of ‘Everybody’s Tennis’.
I’ll be grabbing a copy of ‘Quake Revolution’ at some point to round out the full A-Z, but as it’s not something I’d be in any hurry to play I figured this is not the time.
Saturday 16 May 2020
Day 54: Super Monaco Grand Prix I & II (Game Gear)
The Game Gear is loaded up with six AAs as my ongoing efforts to play one title a day from my 590 game backlog additionally tries to plug the hole left by the absent F1 season...
Here’s a challenge for you: Open up another tab in whatever browser you’re currently using and, using all of your well honed Googling skills, find out everything you can about Ayrton’s Senna’s Super Monaco GP II for the Game Gear. Not the first one, the sequel.
Go on, take your time, I’ll be here when you get back…
Weird, isn’t it? I can only assume that by 1992 the confusion caused by Sega’s 3 Console strategy and the success of the Game Boy were both at their peak and this game just passed everyone by.
What did I learn from trying to research this game?
Well: It came out in 1992, it’s apparently better than the Master System version, and everyone who has uploaded footage of it to Youtube is terrible at it.
Go on, take your time, I’ll be here when you get back…
Weird, isn’t it? I can only assume that by 1992 the confusion caused by Sega’s 3 Console strategy and the success of the Game Boy were both at their peak and this game just passed everyone by.
What did I learn from trying to research this game?
Well: It came out in 1992, it’s apparently better than the Master System version, and everyone who has uploaded footage of it to Youtube is terrible at it.
Friday 15 May 2020
Day 53: The Light Corridor (ZX Spectrum)
Back to the beautiful ZX Spectrum as my efforts to fend off lockdown boredom by playing one title from my 589 game backlog continue.
Originally released for £10.99 in 1991 (£25 adjusted for inflation) ‘The Light Corridor’ found itself free on the front of Your Sinclair just 18 months later. An inauspicious fall for sure, but not an uncommon fate for games lacking a license or well known IP in the final years of this hardware.
In the original blurb for ‘The Light Corridor’ players were urged to “capture the light rays in order to accomplish the ultimate challenge: the illumination of the stars in a newborn universe” - pretty grand words considering what we have is, ostensibly, 3D Breakout.
Actually that’s not entirely fair. Yes you control a paddle and use it to deflect a ball, but besides that there really isn’t a lot here that’s similar to Breakout - or any block-breaking game for that matter. There are no blocks to break, for starters.
Using wireframe and some filled polygon graphics, the game is played from a first person perspective, and the goal is to travel as far as possible into the titular corridor as possible.
In this regard it has far more in common with Starstrike, or the trench run from Star Wars Arcade - albeit at a more sedate pace and with forward progress entirely under your control.
The two styles; Starstrike and Breakout, come together to create a game where you deflect a ball into the corridor and basically chase after it. Sooner or later it will hit an obstacle and come back at you - at which point you need to deflect it again and attempt to carry on after it again. As you travel ever further inwards the obstacles become increasingly larger, more mobile, and more complex, there are power-ups too, with most being classics such as sticky or dual paddle modes, but there are also some clever original twists on those themes.
One of my favourite little touches comes when you reach a new stage. These seem to be set distances, and are denoted by ‘Lvl 02’ (or other stage number, obv.) being written out on a half-screen obstacle wall, furthermore, the next wall you pass will have a four digit code written on it that can be entered on the menu screen to begin at that point on future runs. I love this sort of seamless ‘in world’ information, it’s classy programming of a kind that is often not acknowledged, let alone applauded. It reminded me of the end of S.T.U.N. Runner when you physically pass the high scores of players who have come before you.
And that is pretty much that really. It’s a great little game; a simple idea, well executed. There are versions for the Atari ST and Amiga which I’m sure are more polished (and there’s no doubt mouse control would be beneficial too) but the Spectrum version does incredibly well with the power available; there’s even a level maker toolkit with the ability to save and load your creations to challenge friends - granted that's fairly unlikely in 2020 - but it's a fascinating and welcome option to see in a 30 year old game.
In the original blurb for ‘The Light Corridor’ players were urged to “capture the light rays in order to accomplish the ultimate challenge: the illumination of the stars in a newborn universe” - pretty grand words considering what we have is, ostensibly, 3D Breakout.
Actually that’s not entirely fair. Yes you control a paddle and use it to deflect a ball, but besides that there really isn’t a lot here that’s similar to Breakout - or any block-breaking game for that matter. There are no blocks to break, for starters.
Using wireframe and some filled polygon graphics, the game is played from a first person perspective, and the goal is to travel as far as possible into the titular corridor as possible.
In this regard it has far more in common with Starstrike, or the trench run from Star Wars Arcade - albeit at a more sedate pace and with forward progress entirely under your control.
The two styles; Starstrike and Breakout, come together to create a game where you deflect a ball into the corridor and basically chase after it. Sooner or later it will hit an obstacle and come back at you - at which point you need to deflect it again and attempt to carry on after it again. As you travel ever further inwards the obstacles become increasingly larger, more mobile, and more complex, there are power-ups too, with most being classics such as sticky or dual paddle modes, but there are also some clever original twists on those themes.
One of my favourite little touches comes when you reach a new stage. These seem to be set distances, and are denoted by ‘Lvl 02’ (or other stage number, obv.) being written out on a half-screen obstacle wall, furthermore, the next wall you pass will have a four digit code written on it that can be entered on the menu screen to begin at that point on future runs. I love this sort of seamless ‘in world’ information, it’s classy programming of a kind that is often not acknowledged, let alone applauded. It reminded me of the end of S.T.U.N. Runner when you physically pass the high scores of players who have come before you.
And that is pretty much that really. It’s a great little game; a simple idea, well executed. There are versions for the Atari ST and Amiga which I’m sure are more polished (and there’s no doubt mouse control would be beneficial too) but the Spectrum version does incredibly well with the power available; there’s even a level maker toolkit with the ability to save and load your creations to challenge friends - granted that's fairly unlikely in 2020 - but it's a fascinating and welcome option to see in a 30 year old game.
The Light Corridor - A bit of a curate's egg really, but one it’s very easy for you to check out as it can be played online HERE.
Thursday 14 May 2020
Day 52: Blade (GBC)
It's open season on all suckheads in my efforts to play one title from my 590 game backlog for every day that the UK is in lockdown...
This is another of those games that I have no idea how I came to be in possession of.
The best guess is that it was part of a bundle that included something I was looking for, although there’s also a chance I was doing some midnight eBaying and picked it up for a pittance out of curiosity. Either way, it’s here, Selectron™ has spoken, and so, let's find out if it’s any good.
Obviously my expectations are neutral from the outset, but when the name of Hal Laboratories appears in the opening credits I admit to being intrigued. A quick trawl of wikipedia doesn’t turn up much info but, with Kirby’s handlers on board and my (at this point well documented) affection for Game Boy movie tie-ins, my interest is piqued.
The best guess is that it was part of a bundle that included something I was looking for, although there’s also a chance I was doing some midnight eBaying and picked it up for a pittance out of curiosity. Either way, it’s here, Selectron™ has spoken, and so, let's find out if it’s any good.
Obviously my expectations are neutral from the outset, but when the name of Hal Laboratories appears in the opening credits I admit to being intrigued. A quick trawl of wikipedia doesn’t turn up much info but, with Kirby’s handlers on board and my (at this point well documented) affection for Game Boy movie tie-ins, my interest is piqued.
Wednesday 13 May 2020
Day 51: Wario Land: The Shake Dimension (Wii)
Can the bad-boy of Nintendo overcome my aversion to their platform output? Find out as I continue to cope with lock-down by playing one title from my 591 game backlog every day.
I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I have a bit of a personal taste paradox when it comes to Nintendo products. I own and love nearly all of their mainstream hardware, but I’m really not a fan of most of their mainstream franchises, having fundamentally failed to connect with them - be it the ‘Mario’ platformers, the ‘Zelda’ series, ‘Donkey Kong’, or ‘Smash Bros.’.
Interestingly, or at least I think so, there’s a lot of Nintendo IPs that are developed by ‘2nd party’ studios that I find it much easier to enjoy - I’ve loved most of the ‘Star Fox’ series, a good half of the ‘Metroid’ games were developed via this route; I even found the Capcom developed ‘Zelda: The Minish Cap’ easier to enjoy than the other games in that franchise.
One such developer that has recently risen to prominence is ‘Good Feel’. Their big break came with ‘Kirby’s Epic Yarn’ and even more so when they retooled the striking aesthetic of that game for ‘Yoshi’s Woolly World’. They’ve continued in a similar vein with ‘Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World’, ‘Kirby’s Extra Epic Yarn’, and ‘Yoshi's Crafted World’ but their first game for Nintendo was this ‘Wario Land’ effort, subtitled ‘The Shake Dimension’, ‘Shake it’, ‘Shake’, and ‘Shaking’ in various territories, and which is arguably even more of a visual departure from the Nintendo norm (Nintendorm?).
Interestingly, or at least I think so, there’s a lot of Nintendo IPs that are developed by ‘2nd party’ studios that I find it much easier to enjoy - I’ve loved most of the ‘Star Fox’ series, a good half of the ‘Metroid’ games were developed via this route; I even found the Capcom developed ‘Zelda: The Minish Cap’ easier to enjoy than the other games in that franchise.
One such developer that has recently risen to prominence is ‘Good Feel’. Their big break came with ‘Kirby’s Epic Yarn’ and even more so when they retooled the striking aesthetic of that game for ‘Yoshi’s Woolly World’. They’ve continued in a similar vein with ‘Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World’, ‘Kirby’s Extra Epic Yarn’, and ‘Yoshi's Crafted World’ but their first game for Nintendo was this ‘Wario Land’ effort, subtitled ‘The Shake Dimension’, ‘Shake it’, ‘Shake’, and ‘Shaking’ in various territories, and which is arguably even more of a visual departure from the Nintendo norm (Nintendorm?).
Tuesday 12 May 2020
Day 50: Fire Emblem Warriors
Thanks to the wonderful people from the r/consoles subreddit, who, given five random options, chose this as the game for me to play to ‘celebrate’ day 50 of lockdown.
It seems crazy to think that I started this project 50 days ago. That’s fifty days of no work, stuck at home, when, as the whole Covid-19 thing started to take hold, I was working for 3 of 5 days a week 250 miles away.
I was travelling by train from my home on England’s south coast to Manchester in the north west on Sunday night and returning on Wednesday. To help cope with the nine hour round trip, my brother generously bought for me what he called an ‘early birthday present’; a Nintendo Switch.
For as long I was staying in hotels for half the week I was doing a really good job of sticking to a self imposed ‘complete one - buy one’ rule for games, but when I got furloughed and the travelling stopped I may have accidentally bought two or three titles, including this one, that have added to this ridiculous backlog.
It seems crazy to think that I started this project 50 days ago. That’s fifty days of no work, stuck at home, when, as the whole Covid-19 thing started to take hold, I was working for 3 of 5 days a week 250 miles away.
I was travelling by train from my home on England’s south coast to Manchester in the north west on Sunday night and returning on Wednesday. To help cope with the nine hour round trip, my brother generously bought for me what he called an ‘early birthday present’; a Nintendo Switch.
For as long I was staying in hotels for half the week I was doing a really good job of sticking to a self imposed ‘complete one - buy one’ rule for games, but when I got furloughed and the travelling stopped I may have accidentally bought two or three titles, including this one, that have added to this ridiculous backlog.
Monday 11 May 2020
Day 49: Xtreme Sports (GBC)
Xtreme-ly happy to back on the GBC in my ongoing efforts to play one title from my 593 game backlog for every day that the UK is in lockdown...
A little over a year ago I was compiling a large imgur post titled An A-Z of great Dreamcast games. I had a really good game that I was already familiar with for every letter of the alphabet except one...
I do quite a lot of video game A-Zs, it’s a good way to mix up the format rather than trotting out the world’s millionth ‘Top 25’ list, and usually ‘J’ is the problem letter - but obviously this is not the case with the Dreamcast - the phenomenal ‘Jet Set Radio’ has that more than covered.
No, it turns out the Dreamcast has only one game in it’s entire library that starts with the letter ‘X’, and technically that's only in North America where the game otherwise known as ‘Sega Extreme Sports’ or ‘Pepsi Max Extreme Sports’ was given the radical new name of, simply: ‘Xtreme Sports’.
Obviously I had to do some research and play the game to include it on the list, and in the course of that research I discovered that alongside the Dreamcast & PC game was another, completely unrelated, game of the same name for the Game Boy Color, and what’s more it was developed by none other than WayForward Technologies, a developer of whom I am quite a fan. So I bought both versions.
I do quite a lot of video game A-Zs, it’s a good way to mix up the format rather than trotting out the world’s millionth ‘Top 25’ list, and usually ‘J’ is the problem letter - but obviously this is not the case with the Dreamcast - the phenomenal ‘Jet Set Radio’ has that more than covered.
No, it turns out the Dreamcast has only one game in it’s entire library that starts with the letter ‘X’, and technically that's only in North America where the game otherwise known as ‘Sega Extreme Sports’ or ‘Pepsi Max Extreme Sports’ was given the radical new name of, simply: ‘Xtreme Sports’.
Obviously I had to do some research and play the game to include it on the list, and in the course of that research I discovered that alongside the Dreamcast & PC game was another, completely unrelated, game of the same name for the Game Boy Color, and what’s more it was developed by none other than WayForward Technologies, a developer of whom I am quite a fan. So I bought both versions.
Sunday 10 May 2020
Day 48: All Walls Must Fall (PC)
One title from my 595 game backlog played every day that the UK is in lockdown...
There’s been a couple of occasions, playing these games and writing these posts, that I’ve tried and failed to connect to a game to such a degree that I’ve not bothered to do my usual 5-700 words. I’ll just mention it in this opening bit and move on to something that clicked with me a little more.
All Walls Must Fall came very close to receiving this fate, and I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about the game, but it’s at least interesting enough to warrant the proper word count.
All Walls Must Fall came very close to receiving this fate, and I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about the game, but it’s at least interesting enough to warrant the proper word count.
Saturday 9 May 2020
Day 47: CT Special Forces (PS1)
Back in slightly obscure territory as I continue to play one title from my 594 game backlog for every day that I’m in lockdown. Today’s game is…
CT Special Forces was recommended to me by a guy who used to co-own the retro game shop ‘Ninja Game Den’ in Brighton before it sadly closed down. This is a guy who knows his games and, as a long term customer, knew me and the sort of thing I like. Had this not been the case I don’t think I would have given this a second look.
On appearances everything about the game screams cheap ‘Metal Slug’ knock-off, from the unknown developer to the obviously GBA port graphics. This is not a game that would leap from the shelf at anyone - nor, to be honest, does it fill one with inspiration when it first loads up.
Real world pictures of military vehicles and stock marching music clashes with the cartoon character art from the very beginning and, once I started playing the sprites are slow moving and weapon pointing is limited to left, right, and straight up.
As far the prerequisites for quality run and gun action goes, the first impressions are not exactly inspiring.
On appearances everything about the game screams cheap ‘Metal Slug’ knock-off, from the unknown developer to the obviously GBA port graphics. This is not a game that would leap from the shelf at anyone - nor, to be honest, does it fill one with inspiration when it first loads up.
Real world pictures of military vehicles and stock marching music clashes with the cartoon character art from the very beginning and, once I started playing the sprites are slow moving and weapon pointing is limited to left, right, and straight up.
As far the prerequisites for quality run and gun action goes, the first impressions are not exactly inspiring.
Friday 8 May 2020
Day 46: Gun (PS2)
Heading to the wicky wild wild west as my efforts to play one title from my 595 game backlog for every day that the UK is in lockdown continues with...
It's always surprised me how few games are set in the old west. You'd have thought that given the vast majority of games feature gun violence of one kind or another, late 19th century America would be the perfect environment for many more titles than it actually is.
In the very earliest days of gaming it was popular enough; way back in 1975 Taito's 'Gun Fight' was the first microprocessor powered video game, but for some reason the wild west has never really caught on to mass appeal.
Rockstar's two 'Red Dead' sequels, it should be noted, are an exception to this rule - but even that series' own opening episode 'Red Dead Revolver' was only a moderate success, and it and 'Gun' from Neversoft (taking a rare break from the Tony Hawk license), were the only western themed games to gain any sort of exposure in the 6th generation; a time when games popularity in general was soaring.
It's always surprised me how few games are set in the old west. You'd have thought that given the vast majority of games feature gun violence of one kind or another, late 19th century America would be the perfect environment for many more titles than it actually is.
In the very earliest days of gaming it was popular enough; way back in 1975 Taito's 'Gun Fight' was the first microprocessor powered video game, but for some reason the wild west has never really caught on to mass appeal.
Rockstar's two 'Red Dead' sequels, it should be noted, are an exception to this rule - but even that series' own opening episode 'Red Dead Revolver' was only a moderate success, and it and 'Gun' from Neversoft (taking a rare break from the Tony Hawk license), were the only western themed games to gain any sort of exposure in the 6th generation; a time when games popularity in general was soaring.
Thursday 7 May 2020
Day 45: Ghostbusters (Wii)
My ongoing efforts to play one title from my 596 game backlog for every day that the UK is in lockdown...
I've talked a couple times on this blog about how the various Game Boy machines occasionally received great licensed games because developers had to do something different to get around the hardware limitations.
The Wii often received far shorter shrift, often lumbered with a low res PS2 port with some tacked on waggling to really hammer home how much of an afterthought Nintendo's machine was.
When Red Fly was given the task of porting Ghostbusters to the Will, however, they did not follow this path. This was a rare time when the Wii received a bespoke version of a widely released title… but was it worth the effort?
I've talked a couple times on this blog about how the various Game Boy machines occasionally received great licensed games because developers had to do something different to get around the hardware limitations.
The Wii often received far shorter shrift, often lumbered with a low res PS2 port with some tacked on waggling to really hammer home how much of an afterthought Nintendo's machine was.
When Red Fly was given the task of porting Ghostbusters to the Will, however, they did not follow this path. This was a rare time when the Wii received a bespoke version of a widely released title… but was it worth the effort?
Tuesday 5 May 2020
Day 44: House of the Dead 2 (Dreamcast)
The 50th game in my ongoing efforts to play one title from my 597 game backlog for every day that the UK is in lockdown...
About a week ago I asked the lovely people on the r/consoles subreddit to choose one of five games that I'd had Selectron pick out for me.
They chose this, House of the Dead 2, and what with the Space Harrier showdown, the snowboarding face-off, and a couple of games I really didn't bother with, I’m playing it today, on day 44 of lockdown, as the 50th game of this project.
There are probably only three bone fide classic IPs in the light-gun oeuvre: Time Crisis, Virtua Cop, and House of the Dead. Obviously there are many more favourites around, and many of them will actually be better than certain entries in these series', but they are definitely the three biggest brands in this genre.
Which makes it all the more surprising that House of the Dead has the absolute worst voice-acting you will ever hear.
They chose this, House of the Dead 2, and what with the Space Harrier showdown, the snowboarding face-off, and a couple of games I really didn't bother with, I’m playing it today, on day 44 of lockdown, as the 50th game of this project.
There are probably only three bone fide classic IPs in the light-gun oeuvre: Time Crisis, Virtua Cop, and House of the Dead. Obviously there are many more favourites around, and many of them will actually be better than certain entries in these series', but they are definitely the three biggest brands in this genre.
Which makes it all the more surprising that House of the Dead has the absolute worst voice-acting you will ever hear.
Day 43: Bot Vice (PC)
My ongoing efforts to play one title from my 598 game backlog for every day that the UK is in lockdown...
There was a very recent trend in the world of video games, which started in around 2015 and finally appears to be going away, for developers to make their product as infuriatingly difficult as possible. This deliberately increased challenge was then worn proudly as a badge of honour and used extensively in any marketing.
Newsflash: This is a crappy way to make games. Challenge is something that needs to be carefully balanced. A great game is neither too hard nor too easy; accessibility should be key at the beginning and challenge should increase as the game progresses. If your starting point is 'Brutal' it doesn't leave you anywhere to go, and that's just poor game making.
Newsflash: This is a crappy way to make games. Challenge is something that needs to be carefully balanced. A great game is neither too hard nor too easy; accessibility should be key at the beginning and challenge should increase as the game progresses. If your starting point is 'Brutal' it doesn't leave you anywhere to go, and that's just poor game making.
Monday 4 May 2020
Day 42: Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (N64)
Celebrating Star Wars Day as I continue my efforts to play one title from my 598 game backlog for every day that the UK is in lockdown...
My random game chooser, Selectron™, actually picked a different game for me today, but when I woke up to a "May the 4th be with you" gif, I knew I had to bump that to tomorrow and find something Star Wars related in my backlog to play.
There were two available, but since one needed installing and the other just needed jamming into the top of the N64, Rogue Squadron won out.
There were two available, but since one needed installing and the other just needed jamming into the top of the N64, Rogue Squadron won out.
Sunday 3 May 2020
Day 41: Devil May Cry (PS2)
My ongoing efforts to play one title from my 599 game backlog for every day that the UK is in lockdown dips below the 600 line with...
When I loaded up Devil May Cry (DMC), I was absolutely sure that I would realise I'd marked it 'unplayed' by mistake. I was convinced that I’d simply be correcting the spreadsheet and moving on to something else.
But that didn't happen. The game I was thinking of was DMC 3 which, the unjustly maligned reboot aside, is the only game in this series I have played.
DMC is also the only game directed by Hideki Kamiya I haven't played, and considering I believe every single one of his other titles to be a different kind of masterpiece, you can begin to see why it was a bit of a shock to realise I had never played this, his directorial debut.
But that didn't happen. The game I was thinking of was DMC 3 which, the unjustly maligned reboot aside, is the only game in this series I have played.
DMC is also the only game directed by Hideki Kamiya I haven't played, and considering I believe every single one of his other titles to be a different kind of masterpiece, you can begin to see why it was a bit of a shock to realise I had never played this, his directorial debut.
Saturday 2 May 2020
Day 40: BoxVR (PC/VR)
Bringing a little sweat to my ongoing efforts to play one from my 600 game backlog for every day that the UK is in lockdown...
I need to start this one with a couple of confessions:
1 - I’ve actually been playing this for about a week
2 - I’ve never played Beat Sabre, a game to which this is apparently similar
That’s the admin out of the way, and so on to BoxVR, AKA Boxercise 2019, AKA Guitar Hero Punching Edition.
It should be made clear that if you’re looking for a VR game that’s going to teach you how to box, this isn’t it. There is nothing in BoxVR that teaches, or encourages, good boxing technique.
This also isn’t the game for you if you’re looking for a great game that’s going to get you fit - this isn’t a great game and, from the videos I’ve seen, Beat Sabre is where it’s at if you want a game first and workout second. BoxVR is the other way around; there’s not a lot of ‘gameyness’ about it, but it can be a bloody good cardio workout.
1 - I’ve actually been playing this for about a week
2 - I’ve never played Beat Sabre, a game to which this is apparently similar
That’s the admin out of the way, and so on to BoxVR, AKA Boxercise 2019, AKA Guitar Hero Punching Edition.
It should be made clear that if you’re looking for a VR game that’s going to teach you how to box, this isn’t it. There is nothing in BoxVR that teaches, or encourages, good boxing technique.
This also isn’t the game for you if you’re looking for a great game that’s going to get you fit - this isn’t a great game and, from the videos I’ve seen, Beat Sabre is where it’s at if you want a game first and workout second. BoxVR is the other way around; there’s not a lot of ‘gameyness’ about it, but it can be a bloody good cardio workout.
Friday 1 May 2020
Day 39: F-Zero X (N64)
I might make myself unpopular discussing today's title from my efforts to play one from my 603 game backlog for every day that the UK is in lockdown...
I’ve noticed these posts have been getting a bit long recently but F-Zero X is unlikely to follow that trend as, in all honesty, what could I possibly say that’s new?
That the graphics are pretty basic? That the 60FPS speed and 30 racers at once is impressive? That it’s really, really hard? All these things have been repeated ad infinitum by anyone who has played and discussed this game for the last 20 years - and I can’t disagree with any of them.
Full disclosure before I go on: This game was not chosen by Selectron™, (the name I’ve given the random selector tool I've built into my game database). I was scrolling through the list yesterday and noticed I had this game on it twice; once on the virtual console for the Wii and once as an unboxed cartridge for the N64. Because of the logic I use for my collection, playing this today will lower my 'Unplayed' count by two, meaning that tomorrow my total unplayed will be at 600 on day 40 - and as I'm a tiny bit OCD about round numbers that appeals to me enormously.
I insinuated that I wouldn’t be going over old ground, but even as a big fan of low-poly graphics there’s no denying F-Zero X has extremely simple vehicle models. Personally I still quite like them, the bigger issue is that they clash completely with the comic-book style of the menus and character art.
This character and vehicle roster is huge, but perhaps the game’s biggest issue for me is that they are locked behind a pretty prohibitive ‘achievement wall’ that means a GP must be won on Expert level in order to unlock a set of new avatars. My best finishing position in the easiest GP on Expert level so far has been 4th and individual race finishes average about 7th. A better approach would have been to open up a couple of characters for each level beaten, with their quality proportionate to the difficulty the GP was beaten at.
To be clear, the issue here isn’t the challenge, but rather that the route to improvement isn’t immediately apparent - and immediacy is what this kind of game should be all about.
The last full game released in this series was F-Zero GX on the Gamecube in 2003 and there was no handheld entry for either the DS or 3DS. Because of this there’s a hard core of support for the F-Zero franchise that bemoans the series' lack of love from Nintendo.
This may be a little controversial but I really can't see why they bother. This type of game has been done so much better by so many others in the intervening years that it’s hard to see what Nintendo could bring to the party. The original Wipeout arrived in 1996 and the series was untouchable in this arena right up to the PS3, even on Nintendo’s own systems the ‘FAST Racing’ series has had an entry on the Wii, Wii-U, and Switch and has improved to the point where the most recent entry, Fast RMX, is better than anything ever released in the F-Zero Franchise.
I guess there’s an argument that Nintendo should roll up Shin’en, the Fast Racing developer, and use them to do reboot (Especially as Capcom are proving the viability of that route) - but it’s pretty clear the big N aren’t in the habit of propping up unprofitable IPs and that ‘hard core’ of vocal series fans aren’t a large enough consumer base to ensure they can make money from this brand.
In terms of F-Zero X I’m left wondering what this game has to offer me in return for any future dedication. I know there are unlockable modes available but it’s difficult to see the appeal of extra characters if I’ve already had to beat a game at it’s hardest to unlock them.
That the graphics are pretty basic? That the 60FPS speed and 30 racers at once is impressive? That it’s really, really hard? All these things have been repeated ad infinitum by anyone who has played and discussed this game for the last 20 years - and I can’t disagree with any of them.
Full disclosure before I go on: This game was not chosen by Selectron™, (the name I’ve given the random selector tool I've built into my game database). I was scrolling through the list yesterday and noticed I had this game on it twice; once on the virtual console for the Wii and once as an unboxed cartridge for the N64. Because of the logic I use for my collection, playing this today will lower my 'Unplayed' count by two, meaning that tomorrow my total unplayed will be at 600 on day 40 - and as I'm a tiny bit OCD about round numbers that appeals to me enormously.
I insinuated that I wouldn’t be going over old ground, but even as a big fan of low-poly graphics there’s no denying F-Zero X has extremely simple vehicle models. Personally I still quite like them, the bigger issue is that they clash completely with the comic-book style of the menus and character art.
This character and vehicle roster is huge, but perhaps the game’s biggest issue for me is that they are locked behind a pretty prohibitive ‘achievement wall’ that means a GP must be won on Expert level in order to unlock a set of new avatars. My best finishing position in the easiest GP on Expert level so far has been 4th and individual race finishes average about 7th. A better approach would have been to open up a couple of characters for each level beaten, with their quality proportionate to the difficulty the GP was beaten at.
To be clear, the issue here isn’t the challenge, but rather that the route to improvement isn’t immediately apparent - and immediacy is what this kind of game should be all about.
The last full game released in this series was F-Zero GX on the Gamecube in 2003 and there was no handheld entry for either the DS or 3DS. Because of this there’s a hard core of support for the F-Zero franchise that bemoans the series' lack of love from Nintendo.
This may be a little controversial but I really can't see why they bother. This type of game has been done so much better by so many others in the intervening years that it’s hard to see what Nintendo could bring to the party. The original Wipeout arrived in 1996 and the series was untouchable in this arena right up to the PS3, even on Nintendo’s own systems the ‘FAST Racing’ series has had an entry on the Wii, Wii-U, and Switch and has improved to the point where the most recent entry, Fast RMX, is better than anything ever released in the F-Zero Franchise.
I guess there’s an argument that Nintendo should roll up Shin’en, the Fast Racing developer, and use them to do reboot (Especially as Capcom are proving the viability of that route) - but it’s pretty clear the big N aren’t in the habit of propping up unprofitable IPs and that ‘hard core’ of vocal series fans aren’t a large enough consumer base to ensure they can make money from this brand.
In terms of F-Zero X I’m left wondering what this game has to offer me in return for any future dedication. I know there are unlockable modes available but it’s difficult to see the appeal of extra characters if I’ve already had to beat a game at it’s hardest to unlock them.
F-Zero X - It’s okay, but it’s difficult to see it having such a following were it not a Nintendo brand.
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