C64 16KB Cartridge Game Development Competition - Status Update #1

Ok, ok! I know that I should have posted a status update on our 16KB C64 game competition at least a month ago, but things have been stupid busy here at RGCD. So, without further delay, let's have a look at the progress made by the entrants so far.

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Competition Entry #1: The Blob (Working Title)
Developer: David Eriksson
Status: In Progress

David Eriksson (he of the C64 Spike Dislike port and Driar fame) has returned to working on his tentitively titled 'blob' game, and already the current preview is miles ahead of where he was last year. Planned as a huge (for 16KB) metroidvania platformer, this flick-screen game already features a variety of beautifully presented enemies, wonderful animated landscapes, unlockable abilities and even checkpoints! With most of the work done, it seems that there is just the level design left - without meaning to sound too enthusiastic, I have incredibly high hopes for this one!

Maximus Action Carnage (PC)

Every now and then I encounter a game that kicks the living shit out of me, yet I can't help but to keep coming back for more. Maximus Action Carnage by Bruneras is one such game - and when I say it kicked my ass, it kicked so hard I tasted leather. Built as a stunning example of what Bruneras' Arcade Game Studio is capable of, as a standalone game Maximus Action Carnage doesn't exactly bring anything new to the shmup genre; a heroic army bloke shoots everyone, everyone dies, the end. This is a super tough vertically scrolling shooter made in the same vein as Ikari Warriors or Commando. There is a backstory, but whatever - we didn't come here for the reading.

Anodyne (PC/Mac/Linux/iOS)

From the moment you start Anodyne, its creators Sean Hogan and Jonathan Kittaka send you on an imaginative journey where the feeling of isolation runs rampant and the need to connect in a disconnected world where fantasy and reality exist adjacent to each other drives you to the truth. Your quest starts as you play a boy named Young and follow his progress through The Land to get to the Briar. Aided by the Village Elder, armed with a trusty broom (only real men use brooms), you traverse many lands solving puzzles in dungeons a la Zelda and unraveling the mystique that shrouds the world while ethereal sounds punctuate your footsteps.

Retro Racing (PC/Mac/iOS/Android/Ouya)

In a lot of ways, Retro Racing is exactly what I wanted. A top-down 2D racing game with simple, clear graphics and a perfect feeling physics model. Those who remember Nitro on the Amiga will likely start drawing some direct comparisons, and as well they should, because Jamie "Mr Qwak" Woodhouse was also the author behind that classic. With its engine roaring at the start grid alongside other releases trying to keep the cult genre of top-down racing alive, despite all its efforts Retro Racing is just not quite substantial enough to beat the competition.

Rogue Legacy (PC)

I forgot long ago how many generations have passed, how many flame-ring-tossing wizards I've slain, how many chests I've opened and how many spike-filled corridors I've traversed, how many times my IBS-ridden children have farted in midst of a dangerous battle. Rogue Legacy can do that to you.

Founded in 2009, the creator of Rogue Legacy, Cellar Door Games were already pretty well known in the indie scene for their portfolio of flash games - in particular the cheekily named "Don't Shit Your Pants", but their past successes are nothing in comparison to the mass exposure that they have received following the release of Rogue Legacy. And this exposure is well deserved, as Rogue Legacy is one of the most, if not the most, enjoyable 2D platformers I've played in a very long time (save for the superb Spelunky).

Super Amazing Wagon Adventure (PC/XBLIG)

Gritty reboots are the in-thing for cinema these days. Man of Steel recently reforged the camp-as-Christmas-and-twice-as-festive Superman franchise into a love poem to fatalism and duty, the Christopher Nolan Batman films did away with such marvels as the Bat Credit Card (never leave home without it) and there's a similar trend in video games, with the latest Tomb Raider excursion being more a bit grimy. But what is to be done with a game already brutal and unforgiving? A game that for thirty or more years has been chewing people up and spitting them out?

I speak of The Oregon Trail, the merciless edutainment game of watching settlers die horribly and uselessly. Often of dysentery. And the answer to the question is: go in the opposite direction and make a wagon-based migration game that is an absolutely unhinged and dirtily, filthily fun shoot-em-up. Welcome to the stage of history, colonist. This is Super Amazing Wagon Adventure. This is How The West Was FUN. Let's get edutained!

Thomas Was Alone (PC/Mac)

Games rarely balance humor whilst asking life defining questions. Who am I? Why am I here? Am I defined by my actions or by who I associate with? Mike Bithell is willing to rectify this with the wonderful Thomas Was Alone.

The game revolves around a rectangle called Thomas who blips into existence one day with no comprehension of what he is and why he is here. During his travels he encounters more individuals who are equally confused but seem to have inherent abilities that are useful to Thomas and continuing his journey through the unknown. The relationships the tiny blocks develop are hilarious and also heart warming - so don't hit Wikipedia before playing as you'll ruin half the fun.

Request In Peace (ZX Spectrum)

As far as I can tell, there isn't a videogame genre called 'firefighting'. Well, I'd like to propose one. It'd include those action games where you are just trying to stay on top of things; Oil Panic (Game & Watch), Tapper (Arcade), Pssst (Spectrum) et al. would reside under this sub-heading. Happily, Request In Peace would proudly sit there amongst them, as a fine example.

R2-D2 (ZX Spectrum)

R2-D2 in brief: A traditional platform collect-em-up, where the diminutive Star Wars droid takes an unlicensed holiday in a Manic Miner-style world; avoiding baddies whilst collecting nuts. The reason for this isn’t desperately clear, but I'm assuming he is going to use them to build something from Meccano whilst C3PO looks on and chides him.

Interestingly, game author 'kas29' (a.k.a. Алексей Кашкаров) has used Jonathan Cauldwell's Arcade Game Designer to make R2-D2, and although a polished effort with nice sprite design, the end result is somewhat 'by the numbers'. Had this been a 1983 Mastertronic release it would have been considered reasonably good, but Speccy owners have somewhat spoiled for choice since then, and unfortunately this fails to stand out amongst a crowd of similar titles.

Bruce Lee II (PC)

It's hard not to love Bruce Lee. His style, his talent and his powerful aura turned a man of physically small stature into a pure giant of the silver screen.

Bruce Lee single-handedly made Martial Arts popular, and his stamp on modern culture has been imprinted deeply in movies and video games ever since. With that being said, it seems so strange that, while his likeness has been imitated often in great video games, titles that officially bear his name have been absolutely awful. In fact, the only game truly worthy of the license (which was simply entitled "Bruce Lee") was released 30 years ago... Yet now, thanks to Bruno R. Marcos of Cavenaut fame, (finally) a sequel - albeit an unofficial one - has arrived.

zX - Hyperblast (Preview) (PC)

Jumping into zX - Hyperblast feels very familar. It's a free-roaming bullet hell style shooter, almost exactly like Daniel Remar's Herocore, but with a weapons system pulled right out of Gunstar Heroes, and a bullet reflecting mechanic to boot. It is at first hard to tell if it feels like a shameless ripoff or not. But after reading developer retroFuture's release statement - wherein they specifically call out Herocore, Gunstar Heroes, and Radiant Silvergun by name as inspirations - and learning that this is the South African dev's first title, it does start feeling like the two man passion project that it genuinely is.

Tiny Barbarian DX (PC)

Tiny Barbarian DX is a bloodline descendant of the 2011 free game Tiny Barbarian, essentially a rich testosterone-heavy blend of Conan the Barbarian, Ghouls 'n Ghosts and Castlevania. Utilizing the same engine as StarQuail's XBLIG exclusive Astroman, Tiny Barbarian DX builds on its heritage to bring new characters, backgrounds and music to this successfully funded 2012 Kickstarter project.

'TinyB' has learnt a few new tricks since his last outing and has new moves, mounts and an improved combo system. The controls are as smooth as butter and the visuals are full of character thanks to the great work by Michael Stearns, who was not only the programmer but also the designer and artist of the game.

tapDancer (Android)

(Editor's Foreword: Let's remove those rose-tinted retro-gaming glasses and be honest for a moment; cassette tapes were a completely shit format for storing data on. And despite being somewhat of an iconic retro item, they are still completely shit today - if not worse, in fact. Unreliable, prone to random crashes, easily damaged and painfully slow (don't get me started on multi-load..!), I personally developed many of the more colourful adjectives and insults within my vocabulary whilst vainly attempting to load games from tape on my ZX Spectrum as a child back in the 1980s. However, with many classic home computer games from the past being available exclusively on cassette, getting your screwdriver out and adjusting datasette heads is a necessary evil - or at least it was until the introduction of tapDancer, an app for Android devices with an audio-out port that promises to make life for tape users a whole lot easier...)

In short, tapDancer is an application for Android that allows you to use a cassette adapter to load a variety of tape images (Commodore 64/128, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Acorn/BBC, MSX, Atari) on retro home computer. Sure, it's not the only solution available for dealing with annoying .TAP/.T64/.PRG/.TZX/.UEF/.CAS files (a variety of new hardware alternatives also exist) but being short of cash I decided to give this free application a thorough test to see if it really is a viable option for retro computer fans.

Canabalt HD (Android/Ouya)

What can be said about Canabalt that has not already been said? The legendary one-button indie has made its way to the Ouya in the form of Canabalt HD, its first appearance on a proper non-mobile games console in the game's much celebrated history.

For those who don't know, the game is a minimalist futuristic 'endless runner' which begins with you leaping from an office block and jumping over buildings and avoiding falling alien bombs and other hazards. The controls consist of a single tap, or button press depending on platform, which causes you to leap - and that's it. The story is never explained, but the background of alien tripods ala War of the Worlds, firing over a damaged city skyline suggests an apocalyptic alien invasion from which you are fleeing endlessly.

This Android and Ouya exclusive 'High Definition' version created by Kittehface includes a number of new gameplay modes, additional music and graphics, achievements and also some basic multiplayer, based around a second runner joining you. Without wanting to go over in detail the basics of the game again – in sum, it's superb – this review will focus on the HD revamp.

RGCD Release: Huenison (PC/AmigaOS 4)

Today is a very important day for RGCD. As of 00:00 GMT on the 12th of July, Retream's Huenison is finally available to buy (£2.99, DRM free) for Windows and AmigaOS 4 machines - our debut release in the scary world of PC game publishing. Obviously, to make any impact in the overcrowded indie market it would have to be something really special. Luckily, here at RGCD we've been critically reviewing games on many platforms now for almost a decade - and we think we know a good bet when it comes to a game's potential success.

Huenison has that potential. It's a perfectly crafted combination of a whole plethora of our favourite game elements. Blammo guns and power-ups? Check. Frantic arcade action? Check. Kick-ass chip music, neo-retro visuals, unique genre-mashing game design? Triple check. I mean, come on, how could we not love a game that heavily features samples taken from a 1982 Commodore 64?

We previewed an early version of the game back in March, and fell in love with the concept; here at RGCD we embrace new ideas, and turbo-puzzle-shmups aren't exactly a saturated genre. The listed influences (Arkanoid, Decathlon, Dyna Blaster, Impossible Mission, Oil's Well, Pac-Man, Pang, Qix, Slam Tilt, Space Invaders, Tetris and Vital Light) include some of our favourite games from the past, yet the end result is a shape-shifting hybrid game that feels like it has dropped through a portal from the future. Don't take our word for it though - check out the 5-level demo.

But enough of the hype, what exactly do you get in return for £2.99 of your Earth coinage? To keep things simple, there are two versions of the game available from our store; an executable installer for the PC, and a ZIP archive for AmigaOS 4. Huenison is DRM free and has very basic minimum system requirements (500 MHz, 32 bit CPU, 32 bit graphics card, 16 bit sound card, 12MB RAM, 32MB disk space). Not only that, but our intention is to eventually sell a limited physical boxed CD release of the game - and everyone who buys a copy of the download will receive a £2.99 discount code for the collector's edition when it is released.

So, grab your gamepad, crank up the volume and dive into the chaotic mind-control wells of Huenison...