… but a song AND the crazy dance number to go with it? Yeah, it happens to the best of us (meaning me), so I’m sharing this clip and hope it happens to YOU (and sooner than later at that). For those of you who know “Me Ole Bamboo” from 1968’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, feel free to sing along, but don’t even try that cane dancing in this video because you know you’ll break something (in your body and wherever you’re watching this). Memo to the kids: Dick Van Dyke was 44 when he did this (ouch), it took 27 takes and from what I understand, being a beat behind the other (much younger dancers) at the beginning made this routine even tougher. Hell, I have trouble getting the heck out of bed some mornings, but this may help in making me leap up instead of drag out. OK, get to it with the stretches, people – I want you all doing this bit in your sleep within the week. If anything, it’ll take care of that “restless leg” thing once and for all…
Well, that was… educational. Every time I see footage and screen shots from this upcoming wonderful time stealing enterprise called GTA V, I have to wonder how Rockstar Games keeps pulling this off, as each title in the long running series has been setting and raising all sorts of bars in terms of interactivity and storytelling. Yeah, yeah, I know many of you buy in for the mayhem you can cause, but when you get to the story and let it play out, they’re always extremely well written (and easily beat much of what Hollywood has to offer to death) and highly enjoyable. September 17th, people – start practicing that fake cough for that telephone call you’re going to make saying you’ve a bad case of the “flu” so you can get that week off to dive in and play around… you KNOW you’re going to…
If you’re big into DRM-free classic and indie games, you should already know by now that gog.com is the place to poke around for your content fix and yes, they continue to add some great old as well as new titles well worth checking out. Here’s a quick peek at two from this week’s batch:
The Chaos Engine was a fantastic Amiga game from The Bitmap Brothers that was so good it was ported to both the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo (and retitled Soldiers of Fortune in North America). It’s a top down shooter that’s not a simple run & gun at all, but a game that takes practice and patience (in large doses) in order to succeed. Nice 16-bit visuals with a steampunk vibe working away, challenging gameplay that keeps you on your toes, a cool soundtrack and plenty of surprises await in this solid little blast from the past. It’s ten bucks, supports co-op play (break out that second controller) and will most certainly test your skills at dealing with sudden alien surprises. And teleports that bring in MORE alien surprises. This game doesn’t play when it comes to making you sweat that small stuff.
With its intentionally stylized chunky polygon visuals, Shelter may look like an old PlayStation era game buffed up a bit, but it’s a really cool indie title from indie developer Might and Delight that’s got a simple premise that should get non-gamers to want to try this out. You play as a mother badger who needs to try and keep her five cubs alive as long as possible during a series of linear levels where nature is your biggest enemy. Feeding them is key, but keeping an eye peeled for that hungry eagle while traveling through the forest adds a layer of tension, as does rainy weather, darkness and a few other elements you’ll soon see. Think of this as playing through an episode of Nature or some other PBS documentary and you sort of get the idea.
Replay value seems high here, as there’s going to be that time you lost ALL your cubs and you’ll want to do better the next time. That circle of life stuff can be a bitch, but I sort of wish humans needed to go through the same stuff these days, as whittling the pack down to the smartest over the strongest might make some things better off. Anyway, if your maternal urges are swelling right about now, you know what to do. No, not THAT (this is a family show!)… I meant go snap up some Shelter of your own for a mere $8.99 and keep your cubs out of harm’s way!
This former big deal Wii U exclusive getting delayed from launch window status to September 3 just so it could be ported to other platforms as an equally big deal release (and all launched simultaneously) seems to be well worth the wait, although it also seems that Nintendo’s console is the best way to play this one based on what I’ve heard from a few folks. Nevertheless, the combination of outstanding visuals, breakneck pacing and an amazingly wacky and varied soundtrack make this one a must buy for anyone into “old school” gaming bliss. I hear the game is also pretty challenging if you have terrible reflexes, but that’s par for the course with games such as this. Well, that’s another one for the library once I get around to getting it. That Wii U library is slowly getting better, folks…