WayForward Brings Shantae Back (Yeah!) As A Digital Download (Argh!)…

Posted on May 20, 2013 by geelw

Shantae's Back OK, before some of you think I’m totally nuts, let me explain. Way back in 2001 and 2002, WayForward Technologies made two games for the Game Boy Color that were completely amazing from a technical standpoint: Wendy the Witch: Every Witch Way and Shantae, both of which got one production run and despite some solid reviews from all over, never got the sales they so deserved.

“So, er… what’s so cool about these ancient games?” you ask? Well, it’s funny you should ask, dear reader. Here’s a very nice (and pretty lengthy) long play video of Shantae from YouTube user cubex 55 to check out and see for yourself what’s what:

Nice stuff, huh? Yeah, now YOU want one of your own too, right? Well, these days, complete copies of either game are ridiculously expensive (even cart-only versions command top dollar on eBay and game trading sites) and although the developer did indeed finally make a Nintendo DSi sequel to Shantae (Shantae: Risky’s Revenge, which also ended up on iOS devices), folks who wanted something more physical to own got shut out once again (bleh!). Well, the original Shantae is coming back after eleven years, but this time, it’s also a digital download hitting Nintendo’s eShop on June 20, 2013 for the Virtual Console. Sure, it’ll do well, but cranky old farts like me want a better way to keep the gal around a bit longer than as a download.

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Heck, I’d bet a wooden nickel that some sort of crowd funding deal could get both Shantae games (and perhaps a Wendy remake) onto a disc for PC with all sorts of fun extras. The chances of these coming back to a cartridge are slim (it’s probably not very economical for a few reasons), I’ll admit, but at least there would be a bunch of people paying WayForward more for a new game and not getting the old ones of torrent sites (as I know more people have played Shantae and Wendy than own legal copies of either). Eh, we’ll see what’s what down the road, I guess. In a perfect world, both physical and digital versions would be available, but I know that’s a pipe dream these days…

GOG.com Brings You Way TOO Many Ubisoft Games on Sale…

Posted on May 17, 2013 by geelw

Holy cats… 41 classic to recent games from the mega-publisher are up for grabs at 50% off in this week’s sale, so where to begin? I say go for the Might & Magic or Heroes of Might & Magic bundles (Well, MM IX is kind of a dog that was rushed to market and that fan-patch doesn’t fix every issue), Beyond Good and Evil is a MUST as is Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and of course, the Rayman series. FPS and third-person shooter fans will groove on the classic Far Cry, Splinter Cell and Rainbow Six/Ghost Recon games, but trust me, there’s something for everyone and all at great prices.

Of course, they’re all DRM-free (as always) and yes, the goats above want you to buy ALL of them and save a cool $187, but goats will say anything if you listen long enough. Anyway, you’ve got three days, folks – poke around, find something awesome and add it to your library, I say…

DuckTales Hands-On: Woo-oo! WayForward Remakes (and Creates) A Classic…

Posted on May 17, 2013 by geelw

Ever since it was revealed a few months back, I knew WayForward Technologies and Capcom had their DuckTales reboot all buttoned up like Scrooge McDuck’s custom-made spats, but after getting some hands-on time with the first level of the game, I can safely report that any adult who played this as a kid on the NES will feel as if they’ve lost a good 20 or so years when they get to play this one. The game brings the classic into 2013 with all-new HD visuals, excellent voice acting from members of the original cartoon’s cast and a fantastically redone score that takes those familiar tunes you remember and makes them even more memorable.

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VGA 101: More Classic PC Game Intros? OK, A Little Dungeon Hack For You…

Posted on May 14, 2013 by geelw

Another favorite game of mine by Dreamforge was Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Hack, a pretty cool create your own dungeon-crawler were you chose or created a hero or heroine and set out in a random dungeon generated by you or the computer. This made for who knows how many millions of possible combinations and no two generated “seeds” playing exactly the same. Basically, it’s a rogue-like where survival was constantly tricky, but not impossible if you lucked out and managed to get some great gear to defeat the increasingly difficult monsters (and found enough rations so your avatar wouldn’t starve to death). Anyway, the intro is another favorite of mine thanks to the great art and colors used plus it’s funny as hell to see the hero whine about needing to get paid in advance with traveling and supply money… only to get zapped to the dungeon unprepared. I think I’ve only ever completed three or four of the dungeons I cooked up with this game, but it’s been a long while since I’ve played this one. I’ll fire it up once I have free time and dink around a bit to see if I can still play this one. It installs and runs perfectly on Windows XP, but I really don’t have the time to dive in and get hooked all over again…

VGA 101: Anvil of Dawn Gets GOG’ed (FINALLY!)

Posted on May 14, 2013 by geelw

Dreamforge’s classic 1995 first-person dungeon crawler was one of my favorite games back in the day and I still have my original CD and manual in the library. It’s been around as “abandonware” for a few years, but that and other versions were (and are) incomplete, missing the movies and/or fully voiced dialog, making for half the game it should have been. Well, the fine folks at GOG.com have gotten this one up and running (it turns out Ubisoft has the rights, which means we could HOPEFULLY see a remake down the road) and available for the low price of $5.99 (whee!), which makes me a happy camper indeed. Granted, I finally got my CD up and running last week, so I won’t be buying this right away. But it’s REALLY great to know it’s exactly where I need to find it, now whole again and able to be enjoyed by a new generation of gamers (who I surely HOPE will appreciate it for how important it was to the genre) who won’t compare it to games inspired by it (backwards!) or think it’s a new “retro” styled game (oh, the irony there!)…

VGA 101: Your Free Game of the Day, Courtesy Google Image Search…

Posted on May 13, 2013 by geelw

OK, I normally hate gimmicks like this, but for once, Google actually gets it right, makes me laugh and yes, I get to pass this bit of fun your way. Go to Google Image Search and type the words Atari Breakout into that search box. Tap that search button and prepare yourself for a nice little (and free) surprise. Try not to lose that ball or you’ll need to load the search again. History and fun in one shot? Cool beans, I say – you get to see a classic game in action and take some more searches away from Bing in the process. Google wins again (damn them, as they own me a small amount of money, grrr…)…

Saturday Night’s All Right For Fighting…

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Well, it WASN’T supposed to be such a damn slow day here, but between the rain keeping me inside and away from a decent wi-fi connection and some issues with a PC game I was trying to get running, it’s been kind of a “Meh” day for productivity. I did, however, discover this little clip from the old Sega Saturn and PC game Enemy Zero that sums up all of today in three seconds:

Yeah, well… I’ll get over it tomorrow. OK, enough time burning – back to the salt mines for me…

Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara: The Elf – In A Class All By Herself…

Posted on May 10, 2013 by geelw

Hey, now… before you get all finger-pointy and mention that elves are a race and not a class, you should probably take note that in Dungeons and Dragons, they were initially seen as a separate class along with halflings and dwarves. Of course, elves don’t exist in real life (despite people spending too much time believing they do), so there’s a moot point here somewhere I keep misplacing. Anyway, whee – I get to try this Iron Galaxy-developed HD reboot/remake out next week when Capcom rolls into NYC with it and a few other awesome upcoming games, so expect a nice hands-on report shortly afterward. Dungeon & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara hits PC, PSN, Xbox Live and Nintendo’s eShop on July 14 – back in a bit with more on this instant classic soon.

GOG.com Wants YOU To Go Adventuring This Weekend (So, Get Lost Already!)…

Posted on May 10, 2013 by geelw

Say… do you like a good story? Are you a cheapskate who likes good stories and has a decent PC and doesn’t mind camping out with the digital equivalent of a good book? Well, here you go: gog.com is having another cool weekend sale and this time, it’s all about adventure games past and present. From the fantastic classic The Longest Journey and it’s great sequel Dreamfall, to the chilling slow burner Scratches: The Director’s Cut or the brilliant survival game Miasmata to flawless gems such as Resonance, Botanicula and Machinarium: Collector’s Edition, there’s something for anyone looking to curl up with a warm PC or laptop. Prices range from $3.99 to $5.99 for each game, or you can snap up all twelve for $53.88 (which is a bargain considering the dozens of hours of gameplay here).

No frantic button bashing or much skill (other than reading and using a mouse to point and click or keyboard to move a character around) is needed and there’s sure to be something that catches your fancy at a nice enough price. OK, you know what to do next, so I’ll let you get to it…

Dinking Around With DOSBOX: Anvil of Dawn Lives!

Posted on May 6, 2013 by geelw

I’d been tempted to muck around with replaying some old DOS games for a long time, but I’ve been so busy that I kept putting it off until a few days ago when I dug out DreamForge Infotainment and New World Computing’s ancient classic Anvil of Dawn to see if it would still work. Of course, even on Windows XP (Vista, 7 and 8 are quite awful for my classic gaming needs), thanks to some automatic upgrades, the old disc will install, but not run properly (no sound and a major error in that no onscreen text pops up in dialog boxes, meaning it’s impossible to talk to NPCs, making the game unplayable because you can enter, but not exit conversations). Anyway, I’ve used DOSBOX and one or two other programs in the past, but not on my laptop, so it was time to give it go… Continue reading →