Friday 27 January 2012

Retro News Update

Wow. Those orders for C64anabalt really kicked my ass. It's been ages since I've had a chance to post anything here, but as I've recently just about caught up with the 100+ orders placed for the game I figured that another Retro News Update was probably over due. (Oh, and for those of you still wanting to grab a copy of the game, please note that I will be removing it from the RGCD shop at the end of the month).

Anyway, let's have a quick look back at what we missed over the past couple of weeks :)

Phantomas Tales #4: Severin Sewers (ZX Spectrum)


First of a fistful of new ZX releases, The Mojon Twins' 128KB Severin Sewers is the long-awaited 4th installment of the Phantomas Tales series, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the original Phantomas 1 & 2 by Dinamic. It's a pretty challenging affair thanks to the addition of a very limited view-range in the lower dark areas, but despite it's initial difficulty there's no denying that Severin Sewers is a really decent game - and your quest to retrieve those elusive 15 gold coins on each of the four levels can be made considerably easier if you consult this complete game map :)

Maritrini Freelance Monster Slayer (ZX Spectrum)


...and if one Mojon Twins game in a month wasn't enough, the single-player Gauntlet-esque 8-way scrolling maze-shooter Maritrini Freelance Monster Slayer was released today! I've only had a chance to give it a couple of plays so far, but what I've seen has left me impressed. Could this be the best MJ release to date? Hopefully we'll get a review of this uploaded soon.

EFMB: Endless Forms Most Beautiful (ZX Spectrum)


Using a combination of procedurally generated and collectable invader/imp sprites (a-la Invaders: Corruption), randomly selected enemies to avoid and colour schemes to confuse, Endless Forms Most Beautiful is a bugged-out 8-Bit trip.

At heart EFMB is simple single-screen arcade game (wrapping both vertically and horizontally), with your goal being to collect all the imps or invaders whilst avoiding bad guys via the use of teleporters. Add a few power-ups to the mix and you have a classic game with a modern twist. Recommended.

Gloop Troops: The Lost Crown (ZX Spectrum)


With the release of Little Shop of Pixels' 128KB Gloop Troops 2 planned this year, they recently made their previously iOS exclusive special edition of the original game available for Spectrum gamers. Gloop Troops: The Lost Crown is a collection of levels that didn't make it into the limited space of the previous game and has been coined as 'Gloop Troops 1.5' by the developers - something to keep fans happy whilst they wait for the bigger, bolder sequel.

Similar to the single-screen classics of old, Gloop Troops is a game about collecting stars within a time limit whilst temporarily stunning enemies with the titular 'gloop'. It's a fab little game - and when you consider the other releases above, January has been an excellent month for the ZX scene. Here's hoping that the quality output continues in 2012.

Slayin' (PC)


Now followers of the indie-scene may well have already heard of this addictive little browser-based game, but what you might not know is that Pixel Licker is currently working on a downloadable offline version for PC owners. There's an early build up already that is well worth checking out, but stay tuned for an enhanced version soon.

Retro Blazer (Preview) (PC/Mac/Linux)


It might only be an alpha build, but this extremely retro and ludicrously fast-paced hardcore FPS is a real breath of fresh air. Maybe it's the vivid neo-Amstrad style colour scheme, or perhaps the fluid combination of contrasting modern pixel art and high resolution HUD graphics - there's something about the aesthetics of Retro Blazer that just ticks all the right boxes for me. Based on the 'Darkplaces' Quake engine, you'll probably want to WASD-ify the archaic control scheme, but after you've done that you'll soon be running around blasting stuff with a huge nostalgic grin on your face.

Nitronic Rush Update (PC)


RGCD's favourite futuristic racer Nitronic Rush received an update with a new Christmas themed stunt level and a few minor improvements. If you haven't given it a go yet, then I urge that you download and play this fantastic game at your earliest opportunity. Also, fans of the in-game dynamic soundtrack will be pleased to hear that the first track from the forthcoming OST album has also been uploaded to torcht's soundcloud page. It kicks like a mule.

Hack Slash Loot (PC/Mac/Linux)


Hooray - I just love it when a game finally makes it from publicly funded beta to full final game (especially when I've paid towards it)! And what a result; Hack Slash Loot is everything that the early version promised - it's the perfect coffee-break roguelike. Hopefully we'll get a full review up soon to replace last year's preview, but in the meantime grab the demo and let us know what you think.

They Came From Verminest (PC)


OK, I'm showing off a bit here because (unlike me!) you can't actually play Locomalito's ace 50's B-movie reimagining of Galaga just yet... The game is basically complete and thorough bug-hunting (pun intended) is underway, but it's actually the cover artwork and home-filmed promotional trailer holding up the release (that's a test photo of the movie set above). So what can I tell you about Verminest? Well, it's a hardcore - as in Hydorah-hard - shoot 'em up with a suitably kitsch bonus video mode that plays just like a classic 80's coin-op. Everyone I've showed it to here at RGCD towers loves it, and hopefully you won't have to wait much longer to get your hands on a copy yourselves.

Meet Linus (C64)


And finally, a retro gaming curveball to end this newspost... Meet Linus is a collection of recent C64 game music by Linus and features the 8580 SID soundtrack to Fortress of Narzod, Minestorm, Spike and Jars' Revenge - and as a fan of all four it has been keeping my PSU brick nice and toasty under my feet whilst typing this update - so thanks for that Sascha :)

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