Mission 03: The WEC is designing a new servomech called the "Thermatron" and the Resistance is very keen to get their hands on the schematics.
The Captain is teleported into an industrial complex where the mech is being designed and his mission is to download the plans from the central computer. #retrogaming ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoG2St3LBto
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Developed and published by Imagine in 1985
#retrogaming
#commodore64
#c64
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0dGl94R93Y
Developed by Digital Design and published by Mastertronic in 1988.
Gaplus (AKA Galaga 3) is a conversion of the arcade coin-op by Namco, released for the C64 in 1988.
It's a fairly standard vertical shooter where you must destroy wave upon wave of insect-like enemies across multiple levels.
In addition to regular enemies, a queen will spawn at the top of the formation and can carry a temporary upgrade for the ship. The most useful of these allows you to capture the enemy craft and attach them to your ship, increasing your shot spread.
Every so often, you will enter a bonus stage that requires you to "juggle" enemy ships by shooting them. Each time you hit a ship, part of the word "BONUS" is spelt on the screen. Each successive shot will land you more bonus points, but trying to keep them in the air can prove tricky.
The game gets increasingly difficult every 10 levels (parsecs) and the enemy sprites change style and colour. The game just seemed to loop after I passed parsec 31, so I can only assume there is no ending.
It's not a bad game, but it's very repetitive and there's no variety to the gameplay.
Jeroen Tel and the Maniacs of Noise wrote some decent music, but that's about all you can say about this game.
Enjoy!
#retrogaming
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_YtMvXApHM
Developed by Origin Systems and published by Electronic Arts in 1995.
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Mission 04: The Captain must destroy a WEC monitoring station so that a Resistance food convoy can smuggle supplies past a blockade to starving civilians.
Facing Thermotrons and large number of armed soldiers whilst still equipped with an ionic shield, chemical battery and limited weapons made this quite a challenging mission.
#retrogaming
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEJ5-C4vf8k
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Developed and published by Sega in 1988
Powered by Sega's Y board arcade hardware, Power Drift really is a graphical tour de force; it's amazing to think this came out in 1988!
YouTube's aggressive encoding hasn't done much for the video quality - it should improve if it decides the video is popular enough and starts serving up a VP9 version.
#powerdrift
#sega
#retrogaming
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ngUCwEVtlI
Developed by Arc Productions and published by Grandslam in 1993.
A cutesy platformer starring Jethro the Beaver as he attempts to rescue his wife from an angry rabbit. The rabbits are not happy that the beavers have secured number 1 in the music charts and, as revenge, they kidnap the wife of the lead singer...like you do.
This is the first time I've played this game. The graphics and concept are sound enough, but I had real issues with the controls and enemy placement, so the game took a long time to record.
The objective is locate a raccoon skin cap on each level and then head to the exit. Yellow stars can be collected for points and extra health.
Jethro has a spin attack, but it doesn't work on all enemies and it's not obvious which enemies it will or will not work on.
The levels are split into different themes, but they're not grouped together in distinct "worlds" like a lot of games. Funnily enough, Julian Scott, who was responsible for coding the game made a YouTube comment saying that Grandslam rearranged the order of the levels.
All the pain involved in recording this was rewarded with an ending screen that just blows the mind. I won't spoil it for you...
#retrogaming
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCo76WsyXDw
Game Info
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Developer: System 3
Publisher: System 3
Year of Release: 1992
Coding: Dan Phillips, Dave Collins, John Kemp, Rob Stevens
Graphics: Phil Thornton, Robin Levy, Jo Walker
Music: Richard Joseph
Sound: Phil Thornton
Game Review & Impressions
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When it came to the C64, System 3 has some of the biggest hits on the system. Games such as Myth: History in the Making, Turbo Charge and the Last Ninja trilogy showcased the studio's creative and programming talent, cementing the developer as one of the UK's best and brightest game developers.
When it came to the Amiga, however, the quality and consistency of the developer faltered somewhat, at least in my opinion. The 16-bit conversions of Last Ninja games didn't have the same impact as the original C64 games had done, and although the Amiga version of Myth looked superb and played well enough, the gameplay was identical to the 1989 original.
Fortunately, the studio finally found its mojo once more with Putty (AKA Silly Putty). This quirky platformer starring a small blob of amorphous, blue putty boasts a unique and surreal sense of humour, with a game design a lot smarter than I ever gave it credit for back in the day.
Something I hadn't been aware of until reading up on the game was the fact System 3 had been planning to develop a range of cartridge-based games for the Amiga. Putty had been one of the games in the cartridge development pipeline before the whole endeavour was scrapped. The game could well have gone down with the whole cartridge project, but was eventually released under the name 'Putty', abandoning the 'Silly Putty' license.
And we're fortunate the game did live to see the light of day, because it's pretty darned good. The stretching/morphing mechanics were really quite innovative for the time and were meshed with the overall design. It's also one of the first games I can think of which includes a formal tutorial explaining how to play the game.
As with so many games from this era, Putty can be fiendishly difficult at times, not least because of the infernal input lag the game seems to suffer from. However, with enough practice players will get used to the controls and should be able to overcome most of the challenges put in their way. The presentation is superb, boasting excellent artwork and animation for the time, and the Python-esque humour is one of the game's biggest draws. If you've never played Putty before, this is definitely one to check out.
Information & Trivia
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- Originally called 'Silly Putty', System 3 eventually dropped the license and released the game as 'Putty'
- System 3 intended to develop cartridge-based gam
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjigqX-b9go
Developed and published by Activision in 1989.
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When you release a box office smash like Ghostbusters that earns millions of dollars through ticket sales, launches a hit cartoon series and a huge range of popular kids toys and other merchandise, you'd be crazy not to try and create a sequel.
Unfortunately, such sequels are usually inferior when compared to their predecessors and can do more harm to the brand than good. The Ghostbusters II movie couldn't live up to high watermark set by the original film, and, unsurprisingly, neither was this video game sequel.
Understandably, the developers of this sequel decided not to rehash the original game's structure, but the end result is much more formulaic.
The game is split into three sections, each focusing on a key scene from the film. Before each section comes a brief summary of the story so far and what is is about to occur. If nothing else, I was quite impressed that the entire Ghostbusters II plot is contained in about 30 seconds of cut-scene, and even that is abridged!
The first level is based on the Ghostbusters descent into the abandoned Van Horne railway station below the streets of New York. The objective is to lower your Ghostbuster through the shaft in order to take a sample from the river of slime flowing through the tunnel network. In order to collect the slime, the player must collect parts of the slime scoop, which are positioned on platforms protruding from the walls of the tunnel.
Moving left and right on the joystick will swing you backwards and forwards, but the items can only be collected if when you're facing the right direction. The only way to turn is to hold the fire button down and push left or right, which means you'll end up firing your proton pack and draining the battery just to turn around!
Ghostly hands and apparitions adorn the walls, grabbing the player and spitting gobs of ectoplasm that will drain health on contact. To These ghosts can be temporarily stunned with a blast of the proton pack, giving you a few seconds to lower yourself further into the tunnel. The only real challenge here is from the ghosts that attempt to chew through the cable from which the player is suspended.
The second stage sees the Ghostbusters atop the Statue of Liberty, striding down Broadway in a horizontal shoot 'em up section. This section must be completed before the clock strikes midnight, else you'll lose a life and be forced to replay the level from the beginning.
You control some kind of magical projection of the flame from the statue's torch and must shoot waves of ghosts before they hit the statue.
Both getting hit by ghosts and shooting fireballs use up slime energy, represented by t
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWcbroL9ves
Requested by LogrusUK
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Developed by Daisysoft and published by Rainbird in 1988
A budget shmup along the lines of R-type, Gradius et al, Scorpius was a pretty competent shooter for the time. It boasts some decent artwork (which improves in later levels), and the variety of power-ups on offer keeps things fresh. It's notable for being one of, if not the first commercial games that brothers John and Steve Rowlands (of Creatures fame) worked on.
The one sticking point I have with the game, however, is the hitbox detection around enemy sprites, which makes it difficult to land hits on target successfully; unless the shot hits the enemy dead centre it passes through with no effect. This is less of a problem when you have the auto-fire/rapid fire upgrades and can hose the screen with plasma, but you'll really struggle with taking enemies down until you've beefed up your guns to a sufficient level.
Credits
Coding: Delvin Sorrell, Michael Smale
Graphics: John Rowlands, Steve Hall, Steve Rowlands
Music: Steve Rowlands, John Rowlands
#scorpius
#c64
#retrogames
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCdznJJVA74
Developed by Mr. Chip Software and published by Gremlin Graphics in 1986.
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Another game developed by Shaun Southern and Andrew Morris, Trailblazer originally featured on the Commodore 16 before Southern wrote the C64 version. I can't be certain, but I believe that Trailblazer was the first game of it's kind where the player controls an object along a roadway whilst avoiding obstacles.
Southern had a knack for coming up for original concepts that were fun to play and Trailblazer is no exception. The objective is simple; guide the ball along the course whilst avoiding holes in the floor and reacting to the various tiles that change the behaviour of the ball.
The game features 21 different stages, some of which are interspersed by a bonus game where the player must repeat the sequence of moves demonstrated to them.
The game is technically accomplished, showcasing simultaneous, split-screen action that allowed for competitive multiplayer action. The mode that I played was the single player arcade mode where the player has a limited amount of time and jumps with which to complete each course.
Although Mr. Chip released mainly budget titles, Trailblazer launched with a price tag of £9.99. I think it's fair to say that the higher price tag was warranted as there is quite a lot on offer here.
The game is very tough and will take a long time to master. The sheer speed of the game means that you'll make a lot of mistakes, but practice makes perfect. A practice mode with unlimited time and unlimited jumps is available so you can learn the courses, which is a nice touch.
Trailblazer will often frustrate, but will reward players for perseverance.
#retrogaming
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4fbfe9jR_I