After Volume 3's unexpected but not unwelcome pair of stories Eldorado Gate's back with another three scenario disc, with three new characters for our ever-expanding team to go with it - Mimi, Mamma, and Gigi. Again the manual implores newcomers to treat the stories contained within as standalone adventures (and read the updated on-disc encyclopaedia when they've … Continue reading That awkward middle bit
The Lords of Midnight's manual opens with what ordinarily would be described as some self-important trumpet blowing: "Welcome to the World's first-ever Epic game..." it boldly declares, weary 21st Century eyes reflexively performing a well-practised roll at the sight of such easily ignored waffle. The thing is, between the game's advanced age (at the time … Continue reading Night has fallen and the Foul are abroad!
Eighting's singularly spinny series started life as the eye-catchingly unusual launch GBA game Kuru Kuru Kururin (Japan/EU only), followed up the year after with another exclusive for Nintendo's not-SNES handheld, Kururin Paradise (Japan only, this time). Kururin Squash! whirled into existence in 2004, the first console entry in the series and to date the final Kururin for anything at all, outside … Continue reading Right round like a helerin, baby
The back of the box states that none other than Mamoru Oshii himself was Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor: 98 Shiki Kidou Seyo!'s director, although whether that's merely eye-catching marketing bluster or a straightforward fact seems to be up for debate. The game takes the form of a traditional adventure game with look/talk/examine commands neatly laid out next … Continue reading Go straight to jail
A half-demon man, a demon prince, a young woman kept alive by magic, and the direct descendant of a goddess meet mostly by chance before going on to finish once and for all a world-shaking set of events that were set in motion almost two decades earlier, completely destroying an ancient Daoist training ground and … Continue reading Points of view
This supposed fifth episode in the "Nameless Brave Saga" is, like so many other games with decorative subtitles, actually the first entry in a PC exclusive SRPG trilogy by Chrome Six (as far as I can tell they made these games and nothing else). At a glance Angelic Vale looks like yet another game straight out of the … Continue reading Episode V: Roots of “Diabolic Embryo”
Gall Force: Eternal Story, HAL's Famicom Disk System vertical shmup, is technically based on the 1986 movie of the same name, although the similarities between the two are minimal. There are many benefits to this loose approach to the source material: Nobody interested in playing a Disk System shmup has to feel left out because they've not seen … Continue reading HAL-GAL
Bantross promised us something different for this disc, and as soon as I picked up Eldorado Gate Vol.3's case it was obvious we really were going to get it. The cover shows Kanan front and centre - the girl whose life (as well as her sight, hearing, and voice) was ruined by another's desire to obtain the … Continue reading Old friends, new friends
1995 was an exciting time for video game fans. Optical storage media felt like it was the first step into a laser-based future, every 2D game was made by people with years of experience in the craft, and every 3D game seemed to be bursting with enthusiasm for this underexplored frontier. The future really was … Continue reading Wow, what a start!
Sorcerian Original is the Windows 98/95 compatible remake of the... well, the original Sorcerian, a game first released on the PC-88 back in 1987. As remakes go Original's a fascinating case of the very old meeting what was at one point in time the very new. The graphics for example have been completely overhauled, many environments now boasting … Continue reading There’s only one Original
Kimimi The Game-Eating She-Monster 