Random crap.
In level 1-3, a secret area shows Snake Plissken from Escape from NY land atop the building on his glider and he hands you his special automatic pistol.
Level 4 is the section that most resembles Blade Runner. The secret area in level 4-4 shows Deckard holding onto the ledge of the building while Batty releases a dove. Cool.
I recently discovered a game publisher called Flynn’s Arcade (awesome name!). Basically, the game is a cross between Dig Dug and Bomberman. You play as a bunny rabbit that poops bombs. And no, I’m not being silly. the game actually says that you poop bombs by pressing the button!
The object of the game is to kill all of the enemies on screen before the timer runs out, and you get bonus points for eating the four carrots on each screen. Press the button to drop a bomb behind you. It’s not like Bomberman where you drop a bomb right where you are, but rather behind your bunny. The delay is very swift, so you must move quickly. You can also dislodge rocks to have them fall on the enemies. Points multiply when you kill more than one enemy.
The emulated CRT scanlines are great in this game. Sometimes these faux retro games go overboard with the scanlines, but they look nice in this game. The game is available for Steam OS, so it runs natively on Linux and Steam Deck. Last year, I discovered Annalynn. Murtop is another such fantastic neo-retro arcade game. Play it or else you suck!
Masaya’s “Assault Suit” series of side-scrolling mecha combat action games is fantastic. My first exposure to the series was Assault Suit Valken, aka “Cybernator” for North America, on the Super Nintendo. I played the crap out of that game, and then I later got Target: Earth for my Genesis. But Valken/Cybernator’s control was fantastic due to the extra buttons of the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo. Playing Target: Earth/Leynos with only 3 buttons, plus the inferior graphics, did not help me to enjoy the game much. I’ve played it again more recently on my Megadrive Mini, and it still just doesn’t play as well as it could, if only there were more buttons. I did, however, play Assault Suits Leynos 2 on the Saturn quite a lot and completed it.
So this is a remake of Leynos on Steam, and it is fantastic. It features Japanese voice acting for when the anime-style characters speak. For some dumb reason, the anime characters were removed for the North American Cybernator port, and I did a review of that game on my old Super Famicom page here. With extra shoulder buttons, this game plays very well. Of course it retains the 2D gameplay, but with updated graphics and beautiful lighting effects.
The game has mixed reviews on Steam, but I suspect that many are from people who are unfamiliar with the original game. I rather enjoyed it, and I waited for it to go on sale before nabbing it. Definitely give it a try if you are a fan of the series.
I’ve probably spent too much money on Steam games this past two years or more. I never liked the idea of buying games I did not have physical copies for, and I haven’t cared about gaming on the PC since the ’90s. But Steam offers a way to enjoy the console gaming experience on my computer without having to buy a new game console, so I’m happy. This past summer I wrote about how much I love Infinos Gaiden on Steam, and the same development team, Picorinne Soft, has done it again.
As far as Neo Geo shmups go, my two favorites are Blazing Star and Pulstar. I’d never actually heard of the original Andro Dunos before. So upon hearing about how great Andro Dunos II is, I played the original on RetroPie to try it out. While it isn’t a rather impressive-looking game graphically, it’s pretty solid and I’m surprised I’ve never heard of it before. It was made by a company called Visco, and that entire catalog has been purchased. Picorinne created this sequel, with improved graphics, yet keeping faithful to that 24-bit Neo Geo graphics style. I do not see any mention of Picorinne’s name in Andro Dunos II, but they are listed as being the developer in Steam, and both shmups feature great ’90s quality pixel art. (FYI, they also did a vertical shmup called Battle Crust, which feels more like a 16-bit arcade shmup.)
Just like Infinos Gaiden, this game also supports a 4:3 aspect ratio! I am so grateful for this. It irritates me when I play a vertical shmup that is formatted for 16:9 only, which makes the playing screen even smaller on my 4:3 monitor. This is of course a horizontal shmup, but nevertheless it’s good that I don’t have to bother with wasted borders to either side of the screen.
The first level starts you out inside of what seems to be an underground city, then you break out into a desert wasteland. Nothing but sand and desolation. Apparently this is what happens when we let the cows fart one too many times. If only we had listened to Bill Gates back in the 21st century and ate bugs and drank soymilk instead… we wouldn’t be pelted with sand storms and living underground, eating bugs and drinking soymilk! So anyhow, this is the first level boss, a giant mecha with a big shoulder cannon, a chest cannon, and the blue sensor weak spot to shoot at. Pretty cool.
Next you fly into outer space to look for jerks to shoot at. Oh look, a space colony.
Gameplay is improved over the original. There is now an autofire, a button to cycle the weapons, and a button for the power attack. The original only had two buttons, which required button mashing for the regular shot and to charge up for the power attack.
Like Hellfire on the PC Engine and Megadrive, each of the weapons has its purpose, and you can switch between them using the trigger buttons. You can power up the shots individually by collecting powerups, and your weapons will lose power when you take damage.
Here’s the second level boss. Shoot the core!
Now you’re on the moon.
Now you’re underwater. Games like this and Infinos Gaiden are cool because each level is distinct. People praise Eschatos, but that game is just the same thing over and over again, it seems. Very little variety.
There’s always a strong Darius vibe whenever giant, mechanical fish are involved.
Then you fly over a space city. The boss of this level was taken from the original Andro Dunos game.
So you can’t go wrong with Andro Dunos II. Very fun, retro shmup action with beautiful sprite work, and it’s an improvement on the original. For my Linux desktop, I just had to set the launch option: gamemoderun %command% and the Proton compatibility tool runs the game just fine in Linux.
Top it all off, the music to this game is excellent synthwave by Allister Brimble. I bought the the soundtrack here at Bandcamp.
This game came out last year, but I just now learned of it. Annalynn is a new game with an early ’80s arcade game appeal. It is a sort of a cross between Mario Bros. and Pac-Man.
The intro to this game introduces a miner named Annalynn, who finds herself in an underground construction zone. These four cute snakes, Randy, Candy, Handy, and Mike are down there and they don’t like this intruder and will chase you. Anna’s pick axe is broken, so now she is defenseless.
It took me a bit to figure out how to play. As you can see, it’s a side-view platformer arena, sort of like Mario Bros. The goal is to collect all of the gems, just like Pac-Man. But you can’t jump up to hit the beams to stun the snakes like Mario would. Your only button allows you to jump. The snakes cannot jump, but they can slither into the snake holes in the background to move up or down to different platforms. Also, there are some half platform sections where you can jump through.
The snakes respawn by falling from holes in the ceiling. They fall way faster than I would expect for an early ’80s game. I’m not griping, but I think I just need to get used to how this game works.
When you grab a power jem, the snakes all turn blue for a brief while and you can kick the crap out of them, so it’s just like Pac-Man in that regard.
You’ll be alerted when a bonus appears in the arena, like a cupcake in level 1. Once you’ve collected all the gems, you proceed to round 2. Each round appears unique.
After the 4th round, ropes are introduced, harkening to Donkey Kong Jr.
As expected, there is a simulated CRT mode with scanlines, but this takes it a bit further and simulates the curvature of an old monitor. Wow, that’s a neat effect, but I think I’ll leave it standard. There is also an option to give the snakes hats and sunglasses too.
The Proton utility allows this game to run perfectly in Linux. A 4:3 aspect ratio can be selected, which is always a welcome feature for me because I prefer 4:3 for my desktop. Actually, the 16:9 was enabled by default and I didn’t really notice it. All it really affects is the side art, which is very fabulously retro as well. The snakes are so cute! I think I will make iron bead versions of them.
I picked up Infinos Gaiden via Steam’s summer sale. This is a fantastic game, reminiscent of Thunder Force and other 16-32 bit shmups. Via the Proton utility, this works perfectly on my Linux desktop. Not only does fullscreen mode work fine, but this game supports a 4:3 aspect ratio, which is perfect for my monitor and the overall retro feel. I breezed through the first level, then the difficulty picked up quite a bit.
These are scenes from the animated intro.
Here’s the first level. I cleared it without taking a hit on my first try. Pretty easy. The S powerup is for speed, the B is a barrier/shield similar to Gradius and Darius. The colored orbs provide you bits similar to the Craws from Thunder Force. They can also be used as shields.
I’ve seen a lot of newer shmups that just get repetitive, like Eschatos. It’s a fun game, but it’s just the same enemies charging at you over and over again. In the first level of Infinos Gaiden, you will see the city you are defending getting blasted by the invaders’ lasers in the background. As you can see here, there is quite a variety of enemies that come after you, and they aren’t even the final boss.
The second level takes you to a jungle, and you have to have to deal with this giant, walking mecha on your way into the enemy base!
Inside the base, the boss is this big tank. Neat!
Now you’re in a desert, and oh rats! It’s a sand storm.
This badass sandcrawler mecha is the boss of level 3.
Level 4 is so cool. You fly around this giant airship, and then fly into it.
Oh crap! I ran out of credits. So yeah, this game seems to work just fine on my Linux desktop. I just need to press Ctrl+Enter to get it to full-screen mode. What a neat game! With the 32-bit style pixel graphics and music, you’d swear you were playing a Saturn game. Actually, I saw a comment on Steam that the man responsible for this game’s music also did the music to Hyper Duel and Thunder Force V.
I’ve had this game on my Steam wishlist for a while, and as soon as it went on sale this month, I bought it. It has a “silver” rating on the Proton Database, but after installing it, I had no problems running the game at all on my Linux desktop, without having to make changes.
Super Hydorah is obviously inspired by Konami side-scrolling shmups like Gradius and Salamander, but doesn’t try too hard to duplicate these games. The game features simulated CRT scanlines that look nice. Usually I opt to not enable such a feature because it just doesn’t look right for some reason.
Right off, you can see that this is not exactly a Gradius clone. You can start the game in which shields protect you three times but you only get half a score, or a shield that protects you only once but you get full points.
As soon as the game starts, it looks exactly as you’d expect from a Konami-inspired shmup. Weapon powerups, however, are handled differently. You can slowly charge up your shot to become a double shot (fortunately it’s autofire), but don’t expect any bombs until level 2.
The first boss is a creepy eyeball with tentacles, fairly reminiscent of the first boss in Salamander.
After you clear a stage, it brings you to the Mission Select screen. Apparently after the second level, divergent routes can be selected.
Now you can equip your fighter with bombs and missiles.
The second level presents a twist: here are human buildings you must not destroy, lest you be docked 2,000 points per building! Space insurance must be at a premium.The bombs are launched along with your regular shot, so be careful. They take several hits before they are destroyed. Hold your fire and shoot only when you are clear to do so.
I’ve only played the game for about an hour, and have yet to get past level 2’s mid-boss. So far, it’s pretty great. I just noticed that the stupid mouse cursor shows up in these screenshots! Nuts.
I’m a jibungous fan of the Wipeout game series. Soon after I bought myself a Playstation in 1996 or so, I played the first game and I loved it. Antigravity racecars on futuristic racing courses, picking up powerups for weapons, speed boosts, and defensive capabilities, firing at each other in an attempt to slow down the competition… I loved it. Then came the sequel Wipeout XL, which had faster action, the ability to eliminate competitors, and had a hard-hitting techno soundtrack. That game introduced my cousin and me to techno. It was famous for Future Sound of London and Chemical Brothers, among others. Then came Wip3out, the third game. The music had changed… it was trance rather than techno, with Paul van Dyk, Sasha, Orbital, and others. It’s not what I expected, but in the end I now listen to trance far more today. The graphics were sharper, and it introduced the afterburner button. In the first two games, you needed to pick up a powerup for a speed boost, but in the third you can use the afterburner to do this, at the expense of depleting your shield energy, which puts you at risk of elimination.
I had a friend in my college years in the last half of the ’90s. I met him on an anime BBS just before I discovered the internet. He went to DeVry, gradauted after 3 years, and had a condo in the San Diego area while I was still a student. In the summer I’d go spend 2 weeks at his apartment. Heworked, but he also took time off to do stuff together, and we’d attend the San Diego Comic Con together. That was back when you could just show up, buy a one day ticket and attend. While he was at work, I’d park my ass on his sofa and play video games. He had a shy cat that would stay under his bed all day, but eventually she got used to me and made friends with me. I played the crap out of Wip3out, setting out to get the gold metal for every racer on every track on every difficulty level.
I loved the aesthetic that remained consistent among these three games, as the graphic design and stylized fonts and such were all done by The Designers Republic. I tried emulating their style when I made the index page for my homepage, full of stripes, bold colors, incorporated decorational Japanese text, and futuristic fonts.
On the PS2 there was Wipeout Fusion, which really changed the game and everyone was disappointed. It was developed by a totally new team, and they failed to live up to everyone’s expectations. Then on the PSP they released two solid Wipeout games that were closer to the original. I have Pure, but I never got around to buying Pulse. In 2012 though, Psygnosis merged with another company and was no more.
Last weekend, on Steam I discovered a game called Ballistic NG. It is the spiritual successor to the Wipeout series, developed by just two fans of the series. One guy is the lead developer, and the other guy specializes in the Linux and Mac programming. They even call themselves Neognosis Games, a reference of sorts to Psygnosis. Ballistic remains faithful to the first three games, and particularly the third game because it has the afterburner feature. I bought the game for only about 900 yen or so Sunday night, then Monday evening I played it, got used to it, and love it. I’ve been playing it every day as soon as I get home, and will likely do the same this evening.
I even remember the names of the different racing companies from the Wipeout games: Feisar, Auricom Research, AG Systems, Qirex, Assegai, Piranha… The racers in Ballistic are extremely similar to those in Wipeout, and their stats and handling make them feel very familiar.
The graphics are greatly updated, yet they still have a bit of an earlier Playstation feel to them. There are options to add emulated CRT scanlines and such, but I prefer not to have them.
Ballistic NG is available on Steam OS, so it runs natively on my Linux desktop flawlessly.
I always thought it would be cool if there were plastic models of the racers in the Wipeout series. I did a search and found 3D print files for many of them! They’d require decals to look nice, though.
One last thing about the old PS1 Wipeout games: you know the BGM track “Body In Motion” by Cold Storage? There’s a part when a distorted voice says repeats “body in motion” repeatedly. From the beginning, I always heard it wrong and thought it was saying “Easter Bunny” repeatedly instead. I’ve shared this with people and they can now hear it too.
I recently learned that Wild Guns on the Super Famicom by Natsume has been remade and is available on Steam. I haven’t played this game in over a decade. I have the SNES cartridge but was never able to get it for the SFC. Now it’s been remade with enhanced visuals and music, plus two additional characters (which are pretty meh). the original Clint and Annie are the best characters to play.
Cowboys vs. robots! Neon signs, disco rooms, steampunk contraptions. This is a pseudo 3D shooter, similar to Cabal. A button to shoot, a button to dodge/jump, and another button to ignite a bomb for heavy damage. Tap the shot button to lasso an enemy to stun him. Press the shot button on an enemy up close to activate a melee attack for bonus points.
Shoot bonus items to collect money and limited time shots, such as shotgun, heavy machine gun, bazooka, and this Ghostbusters-esque laser gun.
Cowboys vs. giant robots. Badass. So if Natsume is still around, it’d be nice if they could release their Pocky & Rocky/ Kiki Kaikai games on Steam. This game works flawlessly on my Linux desktop through the Proton utility.
Very cool. This game has yet to be released, but I could download a free demo of the game so far. At first glance, you’d swear that you were watching Star Fox on the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo.
It’s extremely similar in gameplay, although Ex Zodiac adds a lock-on missile attack, which is rather nice.
I haven’t spent a whole lot of time on this game, but it’s pretty fun. It’s available on Steam OS, so it runs natively on my Linux computer.