Mimeo and The Kleptopus King takes you on a 2D video game history lesson
Neo-retro titles are all the rage these days as developers that were once enamored with the old school games of yore now have a chance to create their very own on the cheap. In most cases, games such as Mega Man 10 duplicates the aesthetics of video games from a particular era, but very few attempt to capture the look and feel of multiple eras.
Mimeo and The Kleptopus King, an upcoming 2D hop-n-bop Mario clone for the iPhone/iPod touch, does just that. When cartridge power ups are acquired it doesn’t effect the player character, but the world around him. The power ups will transform the environments from 2-bit to 4-bit to 8-bit and, ultimately, 16-bit. Switching between the different 2D video game eras alters the enemy behavior and level design, so there’s a bit of puzzle gaming involved as well to complete stages.
Touch Arcade as a Vimeo of Mimeo that’s worth checking out. Yup, a Vimeo of Mimeo. That makes me giggle.
[Hat tip: Touch Arcade]
Secret Shame Revealed II: I love China Warrior
Secret Shame Revealed is a recurring feature in which the 2D-X staff admits to loving truly awful games. This outing, Jeffrey L. Wilson fesses up to China Warrior.
When I was just a lad of 15 years, I had to make a major choice in the fall of 1989: would I beg my mother for a SEGA Genesis or a Turbo Grafx-16 to satiate my gaming lusts that holiday season? I plundered the pages of Electronic Gaming Monthly and Video Games & Computer Entertainment for months on end in order to get the nitty gritty on the two systems. The result? I decided to go TG-16.
At the time that made sense for two very important reasons. Firstly, SEGA was my sworn enemy. The company had dared to challenge Nintendo and its 8-bit NES with the SEGA Master System, which sparked many a schoolyard pissing match between the fanboy factions. Secondly, the game screenshots on the back of the TG-16’s Halloween-like orange and black box made the system feel like a true next-level machine. Big sprites! Colors! More on screen enemies!
After a year of Keith Courage in Alpha Zones, my mom surprised me with a copy of China Warrior. The game’s protagonist (a Bruce Lee clone with none of his badassedness) and human enemies filled half the screen. Half the screen. Super Mario, Ryu Hayabusa, Little Mac, and a host of other NES stars were downright liliputian in comparison and, in my adolescent mind, couldn’t touch the graphical might of the Turbo’s 16-bit power. The only problem? That game was utter, utter ass. But I still love it.
Earthworm Jim Crawls Onto The iPhone and iPod touch
Fifteen years ago, David Perry, Tommy Tallarico, and Doug TenNapel created video game gold when they melded their magic to produce Shiny Entertainment’s Earthworm Jim, an instant classic of the 16-bit era that featured tight action, remarkable character designs, absurd humor, and an incredible soundtrack. Although the sequels didn’t quite live up to the original’s lofty standards, Earthworm Jim is still beloved by many.
Those looking for a fresh series entry will have to make due with Gameloft’s recently released Earthworm Jim remake for the iPhone and iPod touch ($5), which retains all of the original’s charms, plus a nice new coat of paint that brings the visuals into the 21st century. I had a chance to get hands-on with the game before its release, and I have to say that I was quite impressed with how the 2D animation, music (you can now add tunes own from your music collection), and sound were just as how I remembered them as a kid. The only potential negative? Working with a virtual D-pad on the Apple platform has historically produced some control issues (see Alive 4 Ever and Magical Drop Touch). Still, the game looks extremely promising, so check back for a full review in coming days.
The Award-Winning Elven Chronicles Arrives on the iPod and iPod touch
Alive 4 Ever and Magical Drop Touch represent the iPhone/iPod touch’s most prominent style of play: easily-digestible titles that can be lapped up in quick fashion while commuting, or when impatiently waiting in line at the post office. Those looking for more long form gameplay have been coming up empty, but developer Big Blue Bubble is looking to add meatier content to the Apps Store with its Pop Vox award-winning RPG, Elven Chronicles, which is available now for $3.99.
Elven Chronicles puts gamers in the role of a young knight who is fighting to discover the secrets of his forgotten past, and a charismatic elf on a quest for self redemption. The title features large territories to explore, randomly generated dungeons, and attractive 2D hand drawn sprites that are reminiscent of 8- and 16-bit role-playing games of years past, such as Final Fantasy or The Legend of Zelda.
If you’re interested in the role-playing action, check out the screens below (or the trailer) for a few more looks at this promising title.
Bonk’s Back: Hudson Unearths The Prehistoric Head-Banger For “Brink of Extinction”
What does an intrepid gamer and a major developer’s surprising lack of security surrounding an announced game equal? An early reveal of Hudson’s Bonk revival!
Videoman, a poster at the NeoGAF forums, was poking around on Hudson’s site looking for information on Lost in Shadow, when he starting messing around with inputting random URLs. This led to the discovery of a previously unannounced Bonk title, Brink of Extinction. Hudson wisely owned up to the screens and write ups (which you can eyeball after the jump) with a Twitter message stating “yes. BONK IS BACK!!!!” Pretty righteous.
The game’s set to hit XBLA, WiiWare, and PSN in Spring 2010, and I’m hoping that the months between now and then will allow Hudson to clean up the visuals. Currently, the 2.5 graphics look cool in some screenshots and borderline repulsive in others. Naturally, I would’ve preferred high-definition sprites as they tend to have far more flair than polygons when it comes to crafting cartoony characters, but it’s early, and we have no idea how old those images are or how far Hudson’s along in the visual design of the game.
Regardless of how this revival turns out, Bonk will forever hold a special place in my heart as he and the TurboGrafx-16 were my entries to the 16-bit arena. Sure, I had sampled a friend’s SEGA Genesis, but it was Bonk’s Adventure’s colorful, playful world and absolutely huge boss sprites that made me realize, as cliche as it sounds, that gaming had reached the next level. Besides the GameCube remakes, I believe that I’ve owned every Bonk game released on a console or handheld – - even the subpar Super Nintendo entries that presented nothing that resembled a challenge.
Bonk fans – - are you pumped?
Virtual Vox Pop: What Are Some Of Your Favorite Musical Scores In 2D Games?
Virtual Vox Pop is a weekly open mic in which we ask you, the reader, to sound off on a particular topic. This week, it’s music.
Music and videogames have been kissy kissy bedfellows almost since the hobby’s inception. Pong-era titles were typically sound effects-laden games that lacked any discernible melody, but by the time the arcade scene began to explode with the introduction of Pac-Man tunes had become integral elements of the gameplay experience.
It was the NES where I first took notice of game music. Contra, for example, had adrenaline-pumping compositions (the pseudo-3D base stages, in particular) that got you riled up to blast alien soldiers back to their homeworld; Super Mario Bros.‘ loopy 1-1 and moody 1-2 tracks didn’t so much get you hyped to play, but pulled you into the Mushroom Kingdom with their extremely hummable tunes.
Feature: Four Games That I Need Before I Die
Sequels have (for better or for worse) become a staple of the gaming industry; just take a look at the annual sports game updates as an example of sequelitis in action. Still, there are a handful of games that have never received follow-ups, truly deserved another series entry, or simply left questions that diehards need answered. I present to you the four games that I need before I taste the reaper’s cold touch.
Fatal Fury: Origins
Before Ash, K’, and Kyo became the pretty boy faces of SNK, the original SNK/Neo Geo star was South Town’s very own Terry Bogard. His tale was one that every red-blooded American who dresses in red-white-and-blue clothing can certainly relate to: His adoptive father Jeff Bogard, was murdered by the Gordon Gecko-meets-John Gotti crime boss Geese Howard (the details of which can be seen in the opening cinematic of Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition), for being an all around do-gooder leaving Terry and his brother Andy to fend for themselves and learn the art of street justice. This is Fatal Fury lore. This is Fatal Fury history. But is it the entire tale? Let’s look at the details.
- Terry and Andy are the adopted sons of Jeff Bogard
- Terry and Andy have blond hair and blue eyes; Jeff Howard does not
- Geese Howard has blond hair and blue eyes
- Geese Howard has a history of abandoning children (see Rock Howard)
This doesn’t take rocket science, folks, and I’m surprised that SNK Playmore hasn’t dipped into this well quite a while ago. My proposal? Fatal Fury: Origins would act as a direct prequel to Fatal Fury with the Jeff Bogard available as a playable character along with Tung Fu Rue, Raiden, Duck King, Takuma, and a handful of new characters that would help expand the Bogard-Howard mythos. Bosses would consist of Geese (naturally), Billy Kane, Yamazaki, Kaine, and others that would give South Town its proper level of grime.
Virtual Vox Pop: What’s The Best Shooter/Shmup?
Virtual Vox Pop is a weekly open mic in which we ask you, the reader, to sound off on a particular topic. This week, it’s space shooters.
Like the mighty and noble Brachiosaurus (at least that’s how I imagined the beast after watching Jurassic Park), the space shooter once ruled the landscape with a quiet dignity. Similar to the great dino, the shooter lost its place of prominence, although it was spared the fate of extinction.
The NES hosted Gradius and Lifeforce. Genesis, the superb Thunderforce series. The TurboGrafx-16 wowed like few others with Gates of Thunder, Lords of Thunder, R-Type, and dozens more. Radiant Silvergun was Saturn fans’ favorite son. Contemporary times have seen Geometry Wars, Ikaruga, and Raiden Fighters Aces garner acclaim.
But which shooter is the best of the bunch? I’ll toss my hat into the ring with Mars Matrix. It would be an outright lie if I said that it was the game that made me buy a Dreamcast, but it was the game, along with Garou: Mark of the Wolves, that made the system for me. It featured an addicting chaining system, leveling up, and inventive reflector/bomb special attacks that managed to override the incredibly cruddy graphics. Plus, it was bullet hell!
What say you?
HyperKin’s Game Core and Game Mobile Brings Back Sega Genesis Memories
The 20th anniversary of the Sega Genesis’ U.S. debut will soon be upon us, so it shouldn’t be too surprising that all manner of Genny product will be introduced in time to satisfy nostalgia-drunk gamers. And I welcome it.
Hyperkin is one those companies. In late August, it will release two Sega-licensed game systems: The Gen Core Console and the Gen Mobile Handheld. Both systems boast 20 built-in classic Sega titles (including Golden Axe and Sonic the Hedgehog), region-free support for Mega Drive and Genesis cartridges, and Hypercolor 512 Technology that’s designed to keep the visuals looking sharp. The Gen Mobile takes portable features a TFT-based LCD Screen and rechargeable battery that allows “greater playing time than its predecessors.” Nomad, we’re look directly at you.
The Game Core and Game Mobile will be available later this month for $46 and $60, respectively. Anyone thinking of picking ‘em up?
IntoGrafx: Bacteria’s Homemade TurboGrafx-16 Portable
Expert console modder Bacteria (ew) revealed his latest creation: a bulbous, red, portable TurboGrafx-16! It sports an official Sony PSone screen with a 5.4-inch display, a built-in battery that lasts three hours between each recharge, a region-free switch for American and Japanese PC Engine games, and turbo switches for the action buttons. Like Bacteria’s previous inventions this is one of a kind, but you can check out how he built it and see it in action.
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