I find unusual old games by now-famous developers absolutely irresistible - just look at Square's 1986 sci-fi computer game Cruise Chaser Blassty and tell me honestly that's not fascinating (if flawed) - which is why I had to snap up Quest's (yep, that's Tactics Ogre Quest) Famicom platformer Maten Douji, known in the US under its localised title Conquest of … Continue reading Good games have more than just good gameplay
Hungry Ghosts opens not with a context-free FMV montage of epic events yet to come nor an attention grabbing intro neatly ending as your own adventure begins but something far more ominous - a simple text message addressing you directly, warning of all the difficult decisions ahead that cannot be undone. This then seamlessly drifts … Continue reading You are being watched. You are being judged.
From the instant you fall through the first stage's blossom-pink skies and into Jinmu Denshou's stripy world you know exactly what Big Club/Wolf Team's into-the-screen shooting PC Engine exclusive is going to be like - it's going to be like Space Harrier. As instantly recognisable as the visual style of Sega's arcade titan is few games ever dared … Continue reading Welcome to another fantasy zone – get ready?
You'd think a collection - even a Japanese one from the Nineties - containing nothing but Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished, Dragon Slayer, and Xanadu: Dragon Slayer II (we'll not go into the mind-bending rabbit hole that is Falcom's Dragon Slayer/The Legend of Heroes series-within-series today) would be marketed as "Ys and two bonus games" but the Saturn exclusive Falcom … Continue reading A fresh bundle of very old games
The first Siren was a divisive experience; praised by some, loathed by others, and I... well, it's probably best you read about it for yourself. But whether you view the original as an unflinchingly brutal nightmare played out within a dense tangle of plot or nothing more than a deeply unfair game loosely attached to a string of indecipherable … Continue reading Second Siren lucky?
You may know Genki's 1996 PlayStation game Beltlogger 9 by its lengthier US title BRAHMA Force: The Assault on Beltlogger 9 or its subtitle-free European moniker, BRAHMA Force. A quick glance gives the impression we're about to inflict yet another slightly clunky Nineties first-person sci-fi shooter with all the usual trappings - weird controls, overly cube-like environments, and a plot … Continue reading Storytelling, strafing, and sci-fi
I have a memory of briefly playing Dyna Blaster, as Bomberman was once known, on the Amiga with my grandma when I was a little kid. I say briefly because we didn't play for long - she couldn't keep up with the sheer speed of the "little man" and the busyness of the explosions and, probably hoping … Continue reading Learning by ageing
Until a few days ago I hadn't played Siren - or Forbidden Siren as us PAL gamers called it - since it was new. Isn't that weird? I love horror games, and I love the PlayStation 2 - why wouldn't I have played this since 2004? Ah. I hadn't played Siren for almost two decades … Continue reading FFScinating
This charming little PC-98 action-puzzle game is just one of the interactive diversions contained within Compile's 1996 release DiscStation Vol.11, alongside a gaming buffet of six other DiscStation-exclusive titles. There appears to be at least one true standalone Tanukids release - a Windows 95 compatible CD called "Pa☆Pa☆Puzzle Tanukids" - but beyond a vague awareness of its … Continue reading Like herding very small and very round raccoon dog children
For whatever reason this 1989 port of Enix's 1987 computer game Jesus: Kyofu no Bio Monster to Nintendo's Famicom was handled by King Records, who are best known in the field for publishing, erm, Jesus: Kyofu no Bio Monster on the Famicom. The game's a creepy sci-fi adventure crafted in an era-standard style with no biblical references whatsoever … Continue reading On the Famicom, no one can hear you scream…
