M-Tanks (MSX)

MSXDev is a great competition that injects fresh life into the MSX scene every year. It gave us Heroes Arena, a great homage to the NeoGeo and Konami; Deep Dungeon, a fun mindless roguelike; British Bob, the greatest Elizabethean arcade platformer ever; Caos Begins, a Maze of Galious inspired metroidvania; Dr. Pill, a crazy text adventure; for nearly a decade it's really been the rallying point of fantastic ideas from a hard-working community. If you haven't played any of the games just mentioned, you owe it to yourself to dig deep into the history of the scene. In fact, you might as well, because the game reviewed here just can't compare.

Ruari's recent Mecha 8 review was spot-on. I didn't just agree with every single point; it completely captured my feelings on the entire competition as a whole. What the hell happened this year? I can't be the only one who is depressed by the paltry turnout this time around. Even at its best (with Zombie Incident), I can't say MSXDev '11 was more than "barely competent". And M-Tanks? In what would be considered an afterthought entry any other year, somehow managed to score third.

Sqrxz 3 (PC/Mac/Linux/Dreamcast/GP2X)

Do you enjoy going to the gym and performing the same rigorous workout day after day, each time pushing yourself just a little bit further, beyond the threshold to completion and experiencing the rush of victory through a blinding fog of muscle burn? Do you enjoy crunching through a difficult problem, banging your head against the wall for hours, just to find the ultimate answer?

If the answer is yes to both these questions, then Sqrxz 3 is probably the game for you.

Ms. Particle Man (PC/iOS)

Originally created for Alverno Presents: Sexy Results (a post-modern variety show inspired by the search for the elusive Higgs Boson), Picobots' Ms. Particle Man was introduced to the elite crowd at the Turner Ballroom, Wisconsin, in the form of a one-of-a-kind, hand crafted arcade machine. It's a unique inception that matches the equally original game concept, one that is fully entrenched in the serious world of physics yet represented as an unashamedly retro and non-serious videogame about colliding particles.

Mecha 8 (MSX)

There have been quite a few times when I've picked a game to review and then given up on it, not because I disliked it but because I found nothing to write about; basically I just didn't care enough about it to either damn it or praise it. However, that's not the case with Mecha 8, one of the entries in the MSXDev 2011 game design competition.

I really wanted to enjoy this game, and while a few good points stood out in my runs through this vertical scrolling giant robot shoot-em-up there just weren't enough sparks of brilliance to make me fall in love with it.

Driar (NES)

By it's very nature RGCD showcases games that are all in some way harking back to an earlier time of video-gaming, but Driar (by Stefan Adolfsson and David Eriksson) manages to distil old-school platform games into a NES package that makes absolutely no concessions to the modern era whatsoever. No score, no save points, no passwords, no timers, no plot, no hub-world, just a series of single screen levels for you to carefully complete, in order, from 1-38 or until your 10 lives are used up.

Ocean Detox (Atari XE/XL)

When it comes to simple game design, it doesn't come much more basic than Blitz. Based on an Atari 2600 game called Canyon Bomber released back in 1977(!), the primitive concept of the original involved a constantly descending and non-controllable aircraft flying across the screen and dropping bombs on the pillars of rock below, with the goal being to clear the ground so that the player can can land safely. Exciting stuff, wouldn't you agree? Looking back, its clear to see that the replacing of 'boring rock towers' for 'populated skyscrapers' in Commodore's multi-platform clone/rip-off was nothing short of genius. Children around the world rejoiced at the prospect of playing a game where they could level an entire city, and this combined with it's addictive one-button gameplay resulted in Blitz becoming a massive success.

Over the years I've played dozens of Blitz clones on a wide variety of systems; it's very simplicity makes it a perfect 'first project' for many coders and I even recall seeing BASIC listings for the game printed in old magazines as a tutorial program. So understandably, when I came across Ocean Detox for the 8-Bit Atari back in 2010 I made the mistake of immediately dismissing it as 'another Blitz game', which is why it took me until just recently to begrudgingly fire it up in an emulator. Now, a couple of hours after first loading the game and much to my own amazement, I'm still playing it. In fact, Ocean Detox is currently running in the background while I'm typing these very words, waiting for me to finish this paragraph so I can return for another quick attempt at beating my previous score.

Hexagon (PC)

It's hard to believe that it was only a couple of years ago that Terry Cavanagh released his gravity-shifting platformer VVVVVV. Captain Viridian's epic adventure seems such an integral part of the indie community that he, much like Terry himself, has now become something of an icon. Which is why it is particularly heart-warming that despite the game's commercial success (with VVVVVV now being available to buy on a variety of platforms), Terry still has time to contribute back to the freeware scene that nurtured his beginnings - even if it is only for one day. And one day is exactly all that it took to create Hexagon, Terry's contribution to the GDC-bound 'Pirate Kart V'.

Looking back at VVVVVV, many will recall one particular intermission scene involving a brutal test of endurance, memory and skill; The Gravitron. Encountered by the player after the fourth level of the game, poor old Viridian ends up trapped inside this evil contraption, repeatedly bouncing off the wall and ceiling, attempting to survive for sixty seconds whilst wave after wave of deadly projectiles are fired at him from either side of the screen. For some, that minute seems like forever and it's often complained about as being one of the most difficult obstacles in the game to overcome. Of course - on the other side of the spectrum - for some, the Gravitron with it's set length and fixed patterns was not enough. So for the hardcore few foolhardy enough to attempt to outlast eternity within those gravity-reversing walls, Terry included an unlockable 'Super Gravitron', an endless mini-game that is both insanely hard and additive in equal measure - and Hexagon, with it's dizziness-inducing rotating perspective, primitive geometric design and incredible difficulty plays much like its evil, LSD-fuelled successor.

They Came From Verminest (PC)

There's a reason for this late review of Locomalito's They Came From Verminest, and it's not because I've been busy. Well, actually I have been busy, but that's not the issue here. The thing is, I was fortunate enough to be involved quite early on with his latest game as a beta tester, and as part of the team who ultimately shaped the final release with Locomalito making careful tweaks to the design based on our feedback, until now I just felt far too attached to the game to be able to review it without being completely biased.

After going cold-turkey from this incredibly addictive retro title for the past two weeks, I finally felt ready to return to it with a clear head and fresh perspective - at least that was the plan. But like a former-addict returning to his vice, after a single hit I am completely hooked; I have fallen in love with Verminest all over again.

Out There Somewhere (PC)

You'd have to be dead from the neck up not to get a massive feeling of Zero Wing nostalgia from the introductory cutscene that kicks off Out There Somewhere, and before you can say "all your base are belong to us" the intro segues into a frantic horizontal space shooter.

And here's where I've got to throw in a spoiler really early on, because Out There Somewhere bowls a googly (I'm sick of saying things throw curveballs so I thought I'd go all cricket for this review) very early on by making the shooter section one of those sequences in which the player is meant to lose (similar to Photon Storm's excellent flash game Cat Astro Phi). Following this frenetic exchange of laser fire the player's ship is shown plummeting to the surface of a planet, in pursuit of its quarry.

(I know, big spoiler, and I admit I've probably dulled its effect a little bit by making the big reveal, but I couldn't have spun about 15 seconds of shooter into a review of at least 500 words! I suppose I could have gone on a tangent and talked about Kung Fu for an hour like my Year Nine music teacher used to do, but there's probably a good reason he isn't teaching any more).

Gloop Troops: The Lost Crown (ZX Spectrum)

A few years ago, ZX Spectrum developer Little Shop of Pixels introduced themselves to the retro scene with their debut release, Gloop Troops. However, due to the memory restrictions of the 48KB machine, not all of their colourful whimsy fit within the confines of a single game, resulting in an additional Christmas-themed rework (Crimbo) and then this bonus level pack released soon after (originally exclusive to the Spectaculator iOS emulator). Adding to their original premise with 15 new levels, The Lost Crown is a sort of Gloop Troops 1.5. Continuing where the first game left off (with the princess from the original now safe from peril) your new duty here is to simply act as her personal 'lost and found' - an amusing step down from your previous role of hero that makes me smile.

Slayin' (PC)

I hate playing games in an internet browser window. I would go so far as to say that I absolutely loath it - especially via those online gaming portals. Call me old fashioned, but for me a 'proper' game will always be one that you can download (or perhaps even buy from a real-life shop) and install or copy over to a computer or console; not something that I have to be online to access or put up with adverts being shoved in my face before or whilst playing. And that's why whenever I come across a browser-based game that I like the look of the first thing I do is email the developer and beg for a downloadable version. My efforts don't often pay off (as the adverts that I hate actually pay people's wages, you know), but amazingly in the case of Pixel Licker's popular flash game Slayin' I'm happy to announce that it did, and as a result I now have a copy of the game sat happily on my PC here that's actually an improvement over the flash version!

Phantomas Tales 4: Severin Sewers (ZX Spectrum)

Our hero Phantomas spends his 25th birthday "jumping in a trampoline with a naked woman eating tortilla," until, in a fit of randomness, he changes tact, pulls out his encyclopaedia, and entertains himself reading a bit of galactic history instead. He reads about the old Metro City, an ancient place famed for its arts, culture and wealth. Now a mouldering ruin, he discovers it is awash with gigantic gold coins. An alternative birthday celebration occurs to him: he will travel to Metro City and go "back to his old ways." By which he means, steal a sackful of gold! This, indeed is the object of the game.

This rudimentary plot tells me two things. One: authors The Mojon Twins do not let anything so distracting as a decent storyline get in the way of a good game. Two: I really need to revisit how I celebrate my birthday this year.

Panic Analogue Cartridge Available! (C64)

That's right... Panic Analogue is now available to buy on cartridge from our shop!

Goin' Sideways and RGCD are proud to present to you 'Panic Analogue', a fast-paced and highly addictive analogue paddle controlled game for one or two players. The game was developed as an entry for the RGCD C64 16KB Cartridge Game Development Competition (2011) and came third place out of 11 entries. Easy to learn, almost impossible to master, each of the 14 procedurally generated levels are carefully designed to challenge every kind of gamer - as well as offering almost unlimited replayability.

Your objective is to keep poor little Redhead alive, trapped in his cave. It's a cruel world in there with droplets of water and fireballs constantly falling from above. In order to survive he has to collect every water droplet in his mouth to stay fresh, and keep his torch alit by catching the fireballs. If a water droplet hits the torch things will go very wrong - and swallowing a fireball of course also leads to pure catastrophe!

NTSC and PAL compatible, Panic Analogue even works on the GS - the only requirement being a pair of analogue paddles. The original Commodore variety or Atari 2600 'Tennis' controllers will do fine, and the game website even gives instructions for making your own!

The transparent red, internally LED-illuminated cartridge is packaged in a box designed by Redcrab and comes complete with a printed manual and credit card sized vinyl-coated sticker. As always, I will endeavour to ship out games within a week of purchase, but it may take a little bit longer depending on how many orders come in.

Jars' Revenge (C64) (2011)

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 Jars' Revenge (PAL/NTSC) in .bin/.crt cartridge format HERE!
Download Jars' Revenge (PAL) in .tap tape format HERE!

BONUS! Download mp3 recordings of the soundtrack HERE!
BONUS! Check out TRSI's 'Meet Linus' music collection in C64 .prg format HERE!

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


Introduction

The C64 scene has waited almost 30 years for a decent conversion of Atari's 2600 classic "Yars' Revenge". Thanks to Peiselulli and Linus from Tristar & Red Sector Incorporated, that wait is now over.

Jars' Revenge is a full-screen (using all border space), PAL and NTSC compatible 2012 update of a timeless console shoot 'em up developed as an entry for the RGCD C64 16KB Cartridge Game Development Competition (2011). The game is currently cartridge only as it actually uses a few bytes of the available ROM space as extra memory (have fun with that, crackers!)

As it is a remake of an Atari game (with the IP still in use), obviously there is no way that we could get away with officially selling copies of Jars' Revenge here at RGCD. Sorry about that. We have, however, provided the cartridge .rom for free download above - so you are welcome to make your own cartridges or use the file in an emulator.


Playing The Game

To play Jars' Revenge you will need either a real C64 (and a method of transferring the game over to it) or an emulator. For emulator users, we recommend VICE, as it works on a variety of systems and is very user friendly. Just download the emulator and attach the cartridge images via the 'File -> Attach Cartridge Image' option.

Like the original, Jars' Revenge is deceptively complex for a simple looking game; upon it's release last year the most common complaint was that people just didn't understand how to play it! Hopefully the following paragraphs will settle this issue once and for all.

JAR - Fly simulator under direct user control.
ENERGY MISSILE - Missile shot by Jar, removes cells.
QUOTILE BASE - Laser-base like object on right side of the screen, behind the shield.
SHIELD - Energy shield protecting the base, composed of cells.
CELLS - Elements of which shield is composed.
DESTROYER MISSILE - Guided missiles put out by the base to destroy Jars.
CANNON - Appears on left side of screen and traverses the screen horizontally.
SWIRL - Whirling pinwheel fired by the Quotile base to destroy Jars.
NEUTRAL ZONE - Glittering path in the centre of the playfield. When in the zone, a Jar cannot operate fire commands and cannot be harmed by Destroyer Missiles. However, the Jar can still be destroyed by a Swirl in the zone.

The primary objective of the game is to break a path through the shield and destroy the Quotile base with a blast from the Cannon. The secondary objective is to score as many points as possible.

The shield is the red area in front of the base. It appears in one of two shapes, as an arch, or a shifting rectangle. The shield is made up of cells. The Jar scout can destroy these cells by firing at them with energy missiles, from any location on the playfield, or by devouring them on direct contact. (The Cannon can also be used to destroy the cells, but this is a waste of a powerful weapon.)

The Jars' movement is controlled by the joystick plugged into port 2. The screen wraps from top to bottom, bottom to top. This means that if you fly the Jar off the top of the screen, it will appear at the bottom, and vice versa.

The fire button has two separate firing functions: it will fire an energy missile in the direction the Jar is pointed, or operate the Cannon when it is on the screen.

Press SPACEBAR to pause game, use joystick to leave pause mode.

Once a path has been cleared through the shield, the Cannon must be used to destroy the base. To call up the Cannon, the Jar can either eat a cell, or run over the base.

The Cannon appears on the left side of the playfield, and moves in a direct line with the Jar. This means the Jar is in its line of fire. It is important therefore, to aim the cannon at the base, fire it, and fly out of the way fast!

The base shoots off two weapons: Destroyer Missiles and Swirls. The Destroyer Missiles home in on the Jar and the player must do his best to dodge them. Periodically, the base transforms into a Swirl. This Swirl winds up and rushes off after the Jar. A Swirl can be destroyed with the Cannon by hitting it either at its base location, or in mid-air. As a player's score increases, the Swirl becomes increasingly dangerous.

The glittering path down the centre of the screen is the Neutral Zone. This area will protect a Jar from Destroyer Missiles but not from Swirls. While in the Neutral Zone, a Jar cannot fire any energy missiles of his own.

When a Jar is hit by a Destroyer Missile, a Swirl, or his own Cannon, he dies. Each player has four Jars (turns) to play in a game. Additional Jars can be earned (details below).


Scoring

Points and bonuses are rewarded to the player for the following activities.

Cell, hit by Missile (69 Pts)
Cell, devoured by Jar (69 Pts & 100 Bonus)
Base, destroyed (1000 Pts)
Swirl, destroyed in place (2000 Pts)
Swirl, destroyed in flight (6000 Pts & 1UP)


Score-Based Game Evolution

When your score hits these milestones the game will react by ramping up the difficulty significantly :)

70,000 Pts - Swirl triples in frequency and sometimes fires instantly. Neutral Zone vanishes on every 4th level. Shield turns blue.
150,000 Pts - Swirl returns to normal frequency but will also change direction in mid-air to hit you. Shield turns grey.
230,000 Pts - Swirl again triples in frequency and sometimes fires instantly. Shield turns pink.
300,000 Pts - Shield moves two times faster. Shield turns brown.


Promotional Trailer

Below is a promotional video of Jars' Revenge running on a C64c with 8050 SID chip. If people want a high-quality downloadable version of this I can upload it to the server upon request.

Hints

When you destroy the base, or a Swirl, there will be an explosion, during which the Jar stays on the screen. Use this opportunity to make up your own victory dance.

The base continually changes colours. The colour sequence is your cue to the appearance of a Swirl, and gives you warning to plan your attack and defence.

If you fly over the base as it changes to a Swirl it will destroy you, so be careful.


Credits

The following people made this game possible.

Code, Graphics & Sound Effects
Peiselulli (Tristar & Red Sector Incorporated)

SID Music
Linus (Tristar & Red Sector Incorporated)

Playtesting
James Monkman (RGCD)

NTSC Testing
Raymond Lejuez (C64 World)

Cartridge Hardware
Tim Harris (Shareware Plus)

Jars' Revenge is a TRSI production, Copyright 2011.

The Blackwell Deception (PC)

Point 'n' Click adventures are going through somewhat of a commercial renaissance of late, having been pretty much ignored for years. HD remakes and directors cut's have graced the digital marketplaces, and actual retail boxed releases of some new P'n'Cs have snuck onto shelves, albeit with a whimper rather than a fanfare.

Of course the retro indie community never truly abandoned Point and Clicks, and Chris Jones's AGS (adventure game studio) development environment has been at the heart of this active scene since it's creation over a decade ago, with countless games having been made on it – of wildly varying quality.

The Blackwell Deception is the forth game in a series of AGS driven games written by Dave Gilbert (no relation to Monkey Island designer Ron Gilbert), and continues on from The Blackwell Legacy, Blackwell Unbound and The Blackwell Convergence. Whilst each game is technically a stand alone affair, they are probably best enjoyed as a quadrilogy, containing references to previous games and a setting that, on its own, makes little sense and is given no real introduction.