Game Info --------------------------------------------------- Developer: Midway Publisher: Midway Year of Release: 1992 Game Review & Impressions --------------------------------------------------- I'm pretty sure everyone is well aware by now of the Mortal Kombat franchise, given the succession of releases under the custodianship of NetherRealm Studios. The versus fighter became an instant hit with gamers, thanks to its use of digitised actors and, for the time, blood-thirsty fatalities, and became a thorn in the side of Congress, governments and moral arbiters in general for precisely the same reason. Looking back, the fatalities are laughably tame and the blood little more than oversized blobs of digital ketchup, but for 1992, this would have been the edgiest thing a teenage gaming audience could have wished for. The combat never lived up to Street Fighter II, but there's no denying that John Tobias, Ed Boon and the rest of the team captured lightning in a bottle as far as presentation and aesthetics are concerned. Much of the excitement surrounding the game was the fact it contained numerous secrets and hidden features. The fatalities were just the tip of the iceberg, with a secret fight against Reptile in a spike-filled pit waiting to be discovered. Overall, the original MK is still a pretty decent game, although one improved upon by its successors. It was always a little more style over substance, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Video Notes --------------------------------------------------- - Includes Reptile hidden fight (see timestamps) Chapters --------------------------------------------------- 00:00 Character bios 02:14 Character select 02:27 Sub-Zero Vs. Scorpion 03:14 Sub-Zero Vs. Liu Kang 04:04 Sub-Zero Vs. Sonya Blade 04:55 Test Your Might 1 05:06 Sub-Zero Vs. Johnny Cage 06:13 Sub-Zero Vs. Reptile (Secret Character) 07:15 Sub-Zero Vs. Kano 08:06 Sub-Zero Vs. Raiden 08:58 Test Your Might 2 09:08 Mirror Match 09:58 Endurance 1 11:16 Endurance 2 12:44 Test Your Might 3 12:57 Endurance 3 14:20 Sub-Serzo Vs. Goro 15:37 Sub-Serzo Vs. Shang Tsung 16:51 Ending 19:34 Bonus: Fatalities ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44JmDop2By4

Follow me on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/Al82_Retro Get Great Retro Scene News @ http://www.vintageisthenewold.com Developed by Origin and published by Electronic Arts in 1996 #crusader #walkthrough #retrogaming ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W22Qjmc4iFo

Game Info --------------------------------------------------- Developer: Archer Maclean Publisher: U.S. Gold Year of Release: 1984 Game Review & Impressions --------------------------------------------------- Released in 1984, Dropzone is the first C64 game released by the late Archer Maclean. Archer sadly passed away on December 17th 2022, and despite releasing comparatively few titles for the system, those he did release were to an incredibly high standard. Like a lot of other titles, Dropzone is far from an original idea. It borrows heavily from Defender, the classic Eugene Jarvis coin-op, for most of its ideas, but calling it a simple clone does both Archer and the game a disservice. A quick perusal of other games published in 1984 reveal a line-up which, by comparison, were still relatively primitive. Even the first games from combined C64 programming powerhouses Tony Crowther and Jeff Minter were either lacking in playability, or required at least a couple of doses of a fairly potent hallucinogenic substance to really appreciate. Dropzone was pretty much perfect right out of the gate, benefiting from Defender's solid design principles, but playing to the strengths of the Commodore 64 itself. The game's objective is to simply set as high a score as possible, which requires the player to rescue a series of space-faring scientists -- blue, rotating things trundling across the planet's surface -- from a plethora of alien invaders which spawn into existence at the start of each round. Saving a scientist requires the player to fly into them, attaching the scientist's pod to the player's jetpack, then taking them to the near-by moon-base. Only a single a scientist can be carried at once, and the aliens will start to target the remaining egg-heads while you have your hands full. They'll try to assassinate the poor guys with android units, either by dropping them on to the planet surface or, more irritatingly, dropping them on to the rescue pad of the moon-base and allowing them to destroy a scientist you'd previously rescued. The round ends only when all scientists are either rescued or destroyed, and all invaders have been dealt with. In terms of armaments, your jetpack comes equipped with a laser blaster with auto-fire for shooting down enemy craft, smart bombs for clearing out all enemies on screen, plus a cloaking device which grants invulnerability for a short duration. The points you earn will replenish these items, plus award bonus lives at regular intervals; these are great features which offset the game's difficulty and, with practice, seasoned players should be able to rack up some impressive scores. The reason why Dropzone remains a C64 classic is due to the fact everything is so polished. It feels like a lot of time and effort went into the game, with everything being tuned and refined to perfection. The graphics, scrolling and other technical aspects are equally impressive, and it's easy to see why Zzap!64 awarded the game a coveted Gold Medal in the magazine's third issue. It's one of a select few games which remained relevant throughout the entirety of the C64's commercial lifespan, and it's still a fiendishly addictive experience today. Information & Trivia --------------------------------------------------- - Game has no ending Video Notes --------------------------------------------------- - Completed 20 waves before ending the game Chapters --------------------------------------------------- 00:00 Attract mode 00:30 Gameplay 16:51 Wiping out 21:36 Game over & high score ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-L5pDlCOHg

Game Info --------------------------------------------------- Developer: Video System Publisher: Video System Year of Release: 1991 Game Review & Impressions --------------------------------------------------- Information & Trivia --------------------------------------------------- Video Notes --------------------------------------------------- Related Longplays & Videos --------------------------------------------------- Chapters --------------------------------------------------- ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsgtt-3J15M