Ridiculous Reality (Atari XE/XL)

Another day, another de-make, this time it's Continuity on Flash/iOS that has become Ridiculous Reality for the Atari XL as part of the 2012 ABBUC software contest.

Before starting this review proper I should first point out that growing up I was never an Atari boy. In fact my entire experience with Atari's is limited to extensive use of an ST, which I loved, and limited use of a 2600 in the 1990s, by which time even my love of retro gaming couldn't convince me to spend much time on Centipede when I still had my Megadrive and C64 kicking along with a rapidly ageing PC.

Therefore, from a review writing perspective my lack of experience with the hardware may be viewed as both a negative and a positive for the developers of the game. On the one hand, I might not appreciate what has been involved in creating it due to a lack of knowledge of what the machine is capable of, but on the other hand, this means that I have no choice but to view the game on its own merits. Whether this review will therefore create howls of indignation or murmurs of appreciation we shall see.

Maritrini, Freelance Monster Slayer (Prequel) (ZX Spectrum)

Anyone who grew up in the 80s will no doubt remember The Goonies as the best film ever. Okay, maybe it isn't the absolute best film ever, but back then, as an eight-year-old with a love of adventure stories, I just couldn't imagine anything better. Hell, it's full of pirate ships, sunken treasure, bank robbers and lots and lots of slapstick violence. And that's not even to mention One-Eyed Willy, Chunk's 'Truffle Shuffle,' Corey Feldman as 'Mouth,' and that massive ugly bloke with the waggly ears.

I have slipped into this reverie on times past as the Fratellis - the nasty criminal gang led by Anne Ramsay's Mama - play a significant role in the latest offering from the Mojon Twins. This is the second game to feature our heroine Maritrini after the exceedingly polished original came out early in 2012. You might recall that Maritrini was not, in fact, a monster slayer, but an actress who stars in the show... Maritrini, Monster Slayer. Ironically, she did indeed have to take up monster slaying - a huge amount of monster slaying - in the first game, as she attempted to rescue her former boss's daughter from a crazed geneticist.

This prequel winds back the clock to a time when Maritrini was just a simple actress. Apart from the Fratellis and George Clooney's evil pig (don't ask), this plot is rather more humdrum. You must get Maritrini - hungover, groggy, and having just dragged herself out of bed with her one-night-stand - through her questionable morning routine and away to her audition for a part in 'Vigorous Monsters with Shiny, Manly Chests.' A future classic, I'm sure...

Pushcat (PC/Mac)

Zut Games' debut release Pushcat ticks all the boxes for a flash game, or a twitch-play, casual game on a smartphone or handheld. It's adorable, addictive, simple and if you jammed it down onto a tiny phone screen it would still look decent. It would do all right.

But conversely, Pushcat isn't a tablet, or smartphone, or flash game. It's a PC (and Mac) game, and it's the choice of format which pushes it (with a name like Pushcat I'm going to keep on making terrible puns by accident and I apologise for nothing) into the realms of brilliance. There's a feeling of rightness when sitting down in front of a proper screen to play a lovely, well crafted puzzle game like this, like returning to an age where bright and chirpy puzzle games like this would sell in big boxes on the Amiga for the era's equivalent of AAA prices.

His Dark Majesty (Atari XE/XL)

It is no picnic living, as many of us poor unfortunates do, in David Cameron's Britain. If it isn't riots on the streets, funding cuts and financial crises, well, they're trying to sell off our forests, take away child benefit, or make us participate in something they call the 'big society.' The problem is, no one knows what it is. Even the humble ash tree is not safe, as the Government has resisted taking simple measures to protect it for the past three years.

It may be horrid, folks, but it could be worse, and D.C. is a purring tabby in comparison with H.D.M. - His Dark Majesty. Let me give you a flavour of his work. We are told, in His Dark Majesty's excellent but rather morose introduction, that the Dark Army 'descended on the land' one 'disastrous decade' ago. It brought 'chaos and pain' making 'simple worries only a memory'. Hmm, so far, so much like our Dave. 'An eternity of dread became a certainty for high-born and peasant alike.' Well, I think we can all see where the two approaches are starting to diverge!

Retro City Rampage (PC/XBOX/PS3/Vita/Wii)

Retro City Rampage is a game with a legacy, a long history dating back to 2002 - when it was known as "Grand Theftendo." A pet project of Canadian programmer Brian Provinciano, over the years it grew from a hobby project of demaking Grand Theft Auto on the NES to a full-blown commercial multi-platform and original open-world parody adventure. Finally, on October 9th, 2012, the game was released, and as a pre-order customer, I had first dibs on this unique labour of love.

Right out of the gate, Retro City Rampage pimp slaps players with its, well, retro references. I don't even remember how many nods to 8-Bit gaming were included in even the first few minutes of play. Even the title is a reference to one of my favourite childhood beat-em-ups. These little gems are more than peppered throughout play - the game is simply smothered with them. It's extremely tempting to share some of them with you, dear reader, but for those of us who spent their days hunkered down in their bedrooms, Nintendo Power in hand, muttering semi-curses at Ninja Gaiden and staring blankly at the mysteries of Castlevania II after watching Saturday morning cartoons, I won't ruin them for you.

Resonance (PC)

I am an unashamed fan of graphic adventures, let me make that clear first of all. I suppose I see myself as the thoughtful, gentleman gamer rather than the frenetic adrenaline junkie. Even so, I know the genre suffers its quirks, foibles and downright irritations, some that can drive even intrepid souls to gnaw off an arm in frustration.

The pitfalls to be avoided are numerous. There's hidden object syndrome, where you have to tiresomely drag the cursor over every millimetre of every screen to identify crucial objects hidden in the scenery. Extremely common, that one. Similar, is hidden exit syndrome. Then there's object proliferation: where there're too many items to carry (see Dizzy), or lots of useless, distracting red herrings (see Maniac Mansion). There was often an obsession with dialogue - pointless, interminable, unfunny dialogue that adds little to the game (see Simon the Sorcerer). And there's that tendency to make a game a little more difficult by including a ludicrous solution to a puzzle (see Monkey Island, to some extent, and certainly Discworld). The problem is, you end up simply trying every object as a solution every time you get stumped: and that's not fun, it's a chore!

I could go on, but I won't, because thankfully Resonance suffers from none of the above annoyances and, I am excited to say, is an upstanding example of a point'n'click adventure, complete with retro pixel-art graphics and a highly atmospheric musical score. It is a science fiction thriller set in the near future in (fictional) Aventine City. The story is well crafted and well told, and tantalisingly unfurls as you progress through the game.

Space Lords (Centaurus) Available! (C64)

It's taken almost a whole year since their first appearance, but the Space Lords have finally returned in this exclusive C64 remix of the classic Atari 2600/Coin-Op Warlords game! Initially released as one of the higher scoring entries in 2011's C64 16KB Cartridge Competition, ALeX, Retrofan and Taxim from P1X3L.net are proud to present the 'Centaurus' version of the game on a 16KB cartridge courtesy of RGCD.

Complete with a space-freighter load of aesthetic and gameplay improvements since the release of the free Andromeda and Andromeda II builds, Space Lords is a single-to-four-player space-station smashing battle-game that supports a huge variety of controllers (joysticks, mice, paddles, keyboard and the Protovision 4-Player adapter) and includes several game modes for either tournaments or single play sessions.

NTSC and PAL compatible, the cartridge version of the game comes in a classic black cartridge shell complete with a printed manual and a vinyl Space Lords sticker. The cartridge version is available in two packaging types, a standard card carton and a more expensive 'deluxe version' that comes in a plastic case (a Universal Game Case with a specially cut foam insert to hold the cartridge as shown below). The standard version is priced at £20 inclusive of UK/Europe shipping, and £21 for the rest of the world, whereas the deluxe version costs £25 (UK/Europe) and £27 (rest of world).

There is also the option of buying a download of the game in *.PRG and *.CRT format (complete with English and German manual texts) for the considerably lower price of £2. This will also be sent out to any customers who buy either cartridge version.

So what are you waiting for? Grab your copy from our shop page today!

Fortress of Narzod (C64) (2012)

System Requirements

* A Commodore 64/128/GS (PAL/NTSC) (8580 SID Recommended).
* A joystick/joypad.
* A VDU preferably connected to a loud sound-system.


Downloads

Download Fortress of Narzod (PAL) in .bin/.crt cartridge format HERE!
Download Fortress of Narzod (PAL) in .d64 disk format HERE!

BONUS! Check out TRSI's 'Meet Linus' music collection in C64 .prg format HERE!
BONUS! Download the Fortress of Narzod soundtrack by Linus HERE!

EMULATOR PACKAGE! Download the game ready-to-run combined with the Windows 32-Bit version of the VICE emulator HERE!

Super Bread Box (Preview) (C64)

Since the initial announcement of Paul Koller's official C64 port of Vlambeer's Super Crate Box last week there's been a whole lot of questions and confusion on the internet regarding the project. This short preview piece will hopefully address at least some of the more bizarre questions that have been thrown our way over the past few days. And for the umpteenth time, NO there isn't a C64 version of GameMaker. :)

Super Crate Box (PC/Mac/iOS/Vita/C64)

Independent Dutch development studio Vlambeer - comprised of one part Jan Willem Nijman and one part Rami Ismail - really made a name for themselves when they unleashed Super Crate Box on the world. Previously known for the Flash-based, sea-creature annihilating romp entitled "Radical Fishing," Vlambeer is famous for their ability to craft charming, tightly produced arcade niblets of joy. Super Crate Box is perhaps the best niblet; the most savoury and addictive of all their creations to date.

Retro News Update

So what's happening over at the RGCD HQ? Well, we've just had a new C64 game cartridge release (as well as a re-release), introduced a new game packaging option and are currently frantically preparing for our appearance as proud sponsors of the 'homebrew/indie showcase' at Play Expo in Manchester next weekend. Oh, and talking of which I think it's about time we made a small teaser announcement regarding Paul Koller's entry for the 2012 RGCD C64 16KB Cartridge Game Development Competition...

Death Ray Manta (PC)

In my few years of writing about video games I've played quite a few that got me really, really excited early on. I'm a pretty enthusiastic guy about stuff and I sometimes do doubt my first impressions of a game, because I tend to throw myself into things. Better than off things, I guess.

Death Ray Manta, or DRM to its mates, is the first game I've played in ages that blew away any chance of me second guessing myself. It's an eruption, a condom full of crack exploding in a drug mule's stomach, a mainline hit of pure colour and light and energy and noise and speed and then more colour and more light and lasers, lasers everywhere. It's like opening your skull and dunking your brain in a bowl full of sugar.

F.T.L. (PC/Mac/Linux)

A brilliantly opportune piece of news surfaced last week about NASA actively working on a 'warp drive'. I, however, did not read the news item in question, for I was busy playing F.T.L. (Faster than light). In fact most of the things I would normally have done, have been displaced by this seemingly slight little indie game. Why should this be the case? It's just your typical Rogue-like space-ship resource management rpg-lite tactical simulation with a multitude of options and unlockables. Oh, hang on... that's why!

Get 'Em DX (C64) (2012)

System Requirements

* A Commodore 64/128/GS (PAL/NTSC).
* A joystick/joypad (two for two-player).
* A VDU preferably connected to a loud sound-system.
* A friend to play with (optional, yet strongly recommended).


Downloads

Download Get 'Em DX (Retail Version) in .prg program format HERE!
Download Get 'Em DX (Retail Version) in .crt cartridge format HERE!

EMULATOR PACKAGE! Download the game ready-to-run combined with the Windows 32-Bit version of the VICE emulator HERE!

Probability 0 (PC/Mac)

There is a bit of a death fetish going on in certain gaming circles these days. Back in the day, games were just considered 'hard', or 'solid' to use a Northern colloquialism, but dying a lot was never really a selling point. Nowadays games positively boast about the amount of times you'll die, take this extract from the blurb for Probability 0 for example, the latest game from Toronto-based designer, Droqen:

You will experience triumph, growth, and death. But mostly death.

Part of this comes with the changing nature of gaming. Gone (mostly) are the days of limited lives and continues, which made death more than a mere nuisance, nowadays games tend to have infinite lives so death is a cheaper commodity. To balance out the difficultly quota near-infinite deaths seems like the logical answer. Even the Dizzy remake on iOS has infinite lives instead of the original three. I'd scorn such a move excepting (or should that be eggcepting?) the fact that I never came close to completing the original on the ZX Spectrum.