I totally forgot (again, I expect) that I had access to that SNK game collection on my Steam Deck. I think it came from Amazon original, so isn’t Steam-native, so maybe that’s why. Anyway, stumbled across it again and had a look, and Prehistoric Isle caught my eye. So I completed it. Standard Arcade Shooter Disclaimer applies: yes, I used All The Credits. These games are designed to swallow 10ps, so I’ve no shame in pumping it full of virtual …
Many years ago, so long ago that my Gaming Diary didn’t even exist, I played Golden Sun on my Game Boy Advance. It was great. At least, I remember it being great, but I remember very little about the actual events in the game. I recall the catastrophe at the start, and the village you’re in, and that your friend goes missing and it turns out later on he’s working with (under duress) the bad guys. I remember there was …
I always thought that Castlevania Legends was actually the same game as either of the Game Boy Castlevania Adventure games, just named differently in a other regions. So imagine my surprise when I discovered it wasn’t, and not only that, it’s better than either of them. How have I not played this before? OK, I should clarify that it still isn’t great. It’s pretty short, has a really restrictive time limit on each level which pretty much guarantees at least …
I know this was highly lauded on release, but I’ll be honest – I’ve never been a massive fan of the game. Or the Shinobi/Shadow Dancer series, actually. I don’t hate them or anything, but I certainly wouldn’t hold them up as fantastic examples of the best the 8 and 16 bit consoles had to offer like a lot of people seem to. See also Ninja Gaiden, actually. [Edit: Oh, it seems I like the 3D port of Shinobi III …
I seem to remember this getting really good reviews upon original release, but I’m struggling to see how. I did look up some of them, and came across this incredible bit of art editor drunkenness from Amiga User International, which attempts to show the screen that comes up when you access a computer terminal, but fails, rather than any of the actual game itself. Incredible work. And also look out for some great whitespace issues: Anyway, that review also tells …
Bloody hell that was hard. Save states at the start of each level and still the last couple of levels were near impossible. Although I loved this back on my Amiga, what I hadn’t realised back then was how poor the collision detection was, which, coupled with the jerky movement, caused so many deaths as I slammed accidentally into walls as I tried to scrape by. Perhaps this was because the first two levels are pretty easy but I never …
It’s not often I play the C64 version of a game I liked on the Spectrum (and in this case, the Game Boy too) and think, you know, this is actually better. But it is. The animation of your main frog/gonk guy especially is really nice, and the vertical scrolling is less jerky. it’s great. And hard. Very hard. Previously, I don’t think I’d ever even passed level 2, so I’d not experienced how much of a mind-stewing maze the …
Although it wasn’t often I came across Wardner in the arcades, it was a game I played whenever I got the chance. I don’t know why though, because it’s so hard my ten pee would last mere seconds. Now, with the advent of Press Select to Insert Coin, I can just slot unlimited magic money into the machine! The future! Playing it now, I realise that it’s actually quite a lot like Alex Kidd. No janken, of course, and you …
This week, the next two Evercade cartridges arrived. Cybernoid is on the new C64 cart, and I was a big fan of the original (albeit on the Spectrum) so it’s the first thing I started up. Thankfully, the Commodore version is very similar to the Spectrum one, although with more muted colours and a different ship design. It’s still a pretty good game, although it’s very easy to die due to the random nature of some of the spawns. For …
It’s been a while, but with it recently popping up on the Switch Online service, I gave it another go. This time, I’d remembered how damn difficult it was, but even so, a few later levels (especially one which was an autoscroller) are properly brutal. Yes, I used save states. You have to, and not even because it is difficult – it’s just so, so long and there aren’t any built-in save options or passwords or anything. All you can …
I’m pretty sure I’ve only ever played the NES version of this before, and my understanding is that it’s very different. Perhaps you can even jump in that? You can’t in this, the original arcade version, in any case. (EDIT: You can’t jump in the NES version either. Curious.) So, as I’m finding with these Capcom arcade games on the Evercade EXP, Bionic Commando is another money-eater. There’s no way in hell you’re supposed to be able to finish this …
After completing the first Kirby’s Dream Land (again) recently, Nintendo were kind enough to put the sequel up on their Switch Online service for me to play. And oh my did they add a lot to the game. In Kirby’s Dream Land 2, Kirby now has his trademark enemy ability duplication capabilities, but there’s also an overworld, way more levels, and three “animal friends” for Kirby to ride. A fish, a hamster and an owl, who have their own abilities …
Aside from a demo for the Spectrum version of this scrolling shoot ’em up, I don’t think I’ve ever properly played Forgotten Worlds before. I know Your Sinclair raved about it, but the controls (which are crying out to be twin-stick before that was a common thing) always seemed too fiddly to bother with, so I never really tried. Turns out, that I was right. OK, so in the arcade you have a stick to move, and a rotary dial …
Like Minish Cap, Metroid Fusion is a GBA game I haven’t played for a very, very long time. Also like Minish Cap, I have it on my 3DS, also unplayed. But let me not talk of what I haven’t played, for this appeared on Switch Online and I did play it. Metroid Fusion is a more linear than usual Metroid title. That’s not to say there isn’t any backtracking or hidden things, more that it’s very hand-holdy and you’re told …
You know, I’ve realised there’s a flaw in playing arcade games on a non-arcade device. You just keep piling virtual coins in until you win. Sure, you can do this on MAME, and yes, the EXP does have a credit limit option, but still – completing a game is as much an exercise in pressing “insert coin” as it pressing punch and kick. Because ain’t nobody limiting themselves to 3 credits unless they’re masochists. The game is as it ever …
