Retro Pop Box Turns Your Mailbox Into A Time Machine

Posted on September 20, 2015 by geelw

If you’re a child of the 1960’s, 70’s or 80’s, or know someone of a certain age craving some random nostalgia, Retro Pop Box is going to be right up your/their alley. The just-launched subscription-only service delivers the goods in the form of monthly boxes of themed swag, all of it fun and guaranteed to get the memory banks kicking in as you’re transported back to your childhood.

A sampler box containing a few items from all three eras popped up in my mailbox a few days back (thanks, Chris!) and it made a rather bland Wednesday end on a rainbow-colored rocket with a paisley disco ball painted on it. Or something close to that.

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30 Years of Mario: Take A Bowser, Pal. You Certainly Deserve It

Posted on September 12, 2015 by geelw

Yep, it’s been THAT long since Super Mario Bros. was introduced to console gamers in Japan and shortly thereafter, most of the rest of the world. No one know how many millions of games of SMB have been played, but Nintendo has managed to make Mario not only one of the most memorable and recognizable game characters ever, they continue to rake in plenty of money from both new and old games featuring the character and his equally well-known cast of friends and foes. As today just so happens to also be Video Games Day (well, here in the US where we love making and celebrating made up holidays), you may be wanting to do a little celebrating yourself. If you’re lucky enough to own a Wii U, you can (and should) snap up a copy of Super Mario Maker and whip up a few celebratory levels for today’s festivities.

“Festivities? What festivities?” you ask? Yeah, at some point today, there will be a knock at your door and when you open it, a barrel will roll in and burst open. It’ll be full of bananas and a very pissed of Donkey Kong will storm in, grab you and that busted barrel and hoof it to your roof. Soon afterwards, you’ll be visited by a certain plumber and get a little game history lesson as you’re getting rescued. After that ape goes down swinging, you’ll end up going through a LOT of surprisingly clean sewer pipes, you may crack your head on a brick and see stars, and don’t forget to wear comfortable shows because you’ll be jumping more than you’ve ever jumped before. Don’t worry, Mario has been doing this stuff for a while, so it’ll take maybe ten minutes tops before you’re back on the couch and wondering what the hell just happened.

20XX: This Mighty Number’s Going To Be Mega, Man!

Posted on September 10, 2015 by geelw

If you’re a Mega Man fan who’s cranky that Kenji Inafune’s “homage” Mighty No. 9 has been delayed until next year, you might want to poke your mouse over to Steam pronto and check out 20XX, the upcoming 2D side-scrolling rogue-like platformer from Batterystaple Games currently in Early Access on Steam. That alpha version will soon be getting boosted up to beta status next Tuesday, but what’s here is very playable and well on the way to being an instant classic any MM fan would love. 20XX is a mash-up of familiar gameplay with rogue-like randomness to the levels and lots of loot to collect. It’s also old-school tough, great looking and a ton of fun to play.

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Stern’s Game of Thrones Pinball Machine: Silver Balls For The Royal Set

Posted on September 8, 2015 by geelw

Hmmm. This certainly gives the saying “When you play the Game of Thrones, you win… or you die.” a whole new meaning, folks.

For the record, it’s really difficult to play a standard pinball machine sitting down. That’s probably the sole reason this awesome and not at all inexpensive officially licensed Game of Thrones pinball machine doesn’t come with a life-size Iron Throne replica. Available now from Stern Pinball, this beauty comes in Pro ($5,995 MSRP), Premium ($7,595 MSRP) and Limited ($8,795 MSRP) Editions and is sure to get you kicking people out of your home when they won’t leave because they’re having a blast playing.

While the Pro model is packed to the rafters with features classic to current pinball wizards expect, the Premium and Limited Editions feature a massive and challenging Castle upper playfield with a second set of full size flippers, shots and an animated Dragon. Additionally, the Limited Edition gets you a Certificate of Authenticity, a numbered plaque, a designer-autographed playfield, a beautiful, hand-drawn cabinet and backglass artwork by Bob Stevlic. Exclusive, glossy, black- powder-coated, laser-cut side armor features dragon elements of the Targaryen Sigil and is inscribed with the Targaryen House motto, “Fire & Blood”, all highlighted with a rich, red mirrored backing.

If you can swing the funds for any of these gorgeous tables, all you need is enough room to fit your table of choice into comfortably and it’s party time! Friends will drop by pretty much automatically (and regularly), as a working pinball machine is one of those great conversation pieces that will get even non-gamers and non-fans of the show wanting to see it in action. And if you have no friends at all and are surrounded on all sides by enemies, this is a sure-fire way to get them to swing by for a little friendly competition. What you do to them once they’re distracted is all up to you.

No More Nightmares: Wes Craven (1939 – 2015)

Posted on August 31, 2015 by geelw

The first time I saw it in the mid-1980’s on a borrowed VHS tape that had a few other films crammed onto it, I never made it through Last House on the Left. And neither did the tape it was recorded on. During the agonizing scene where poor Phyllis is rendered gutless, the tape broke, ending my torture but making me insanely curious as to how the rest of the film would lay out. Amusingly enough, while I didn’t plan on finding out in a hurry, time has a way of speeding some things up. Not too long afterwards (okay, about four or five years later) I saw Ingmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring and realized Wes Craven was more than a bit influenced by that classic film.

That made me go locate a beat up VHS tape another friend owned and watch it from start to finish, appreciating it far more by the finale than I did when I first saw it. Amusingly enough, I didn’t seek out Craven’s other films at all. I always seemed to be in the middle of something else when one would turn up on cable or in the case of a few others, I just decided to go to the movies and one of his films happened to be playing nearby. Some of his flicks worked better than others and a few didn’t strike me at all as all that frightening until seen again where I could dissect scenes without a chatty fraidy-cat audience screaming and talking over the better parts of the work. Continue reading →

Bard’s Gold: Throw Down The Gauntlet (And Your Controller) In This Instant Classic

Posted on August 25, 2015 by geelw

If you remember way back when games didn’t hold your hand at all or you’re a newer gamer who wants a game that’s going to test your skills while teaching you some patience, welcome to Pixel Lantern’s Bard’s Gold. Available NOW on Steam, this retro platformer is neither another “Metroidvania” retread nor some speed-runner’s dream frenzy of the week. The game is a deliberately slower-paced side-scroller with an extreme difficulty that the developer (or at least the PR guy working for them) claims it’s the “hardest game on Steam”.

Now, I can’t say whether or not this is true, but that trailer below sure doesn’t make it look anything close to “casual” at all.

Anyway, color me sold on this one. A request for a Steam code has been made, so we’ll see how tough this one is. Given the comments I’ve scanned so far, I’m expecting to be needing a new controller at some point.

3D Gunstar Heroes Out Now on Nintendo 3DS: “Blast Processing,” Indeed

Posted on August 22, 2015 by geelw

For those of you who’ve never played it, Gunstar Heroes is quite simply one of the best 16-bit games ever made, period. Japanese developer Treasure made itself a household name among gamers with this 1993 Sega Mega Drive/Genesis release that seemed to use every bit of processing power the console had and then some.

While the game has popped up in a few newer console ports over time, it seems that the 3DS just may have the “definitive” version thanks to Sega’s remaster team, M2. Here’s a fun extra credit read from the Sega Blog on how tricky it was to get the game up and running on the handheld in stereoscopic 3D. The plot is nuts if you try to make total sense of it, but you won’t be playing this for the story. It’s a total run ‘n gun with killer boss fights, a “board game” level that’s worth an entire game in itself under the right developer, and a great soundtrack that drives the action from beginning to end.

Anyway, if you have a 3DS, BUY THIS GAME. If you’re thinking about getting a 3DS, see that last sentence. Hopefully Sega has plans to get this on the Wii U as well as an HD version at some point as it’s a total no-brainer that this is a game that really benefits from a larger screen. We’ll see if that ever happens (it would be nice, Sega), but for now, this one’s a must-buy that still packs quite a few wallops.

Forbidden Zone (Finally) Gets The Deluxe Home Video Treatment

Posted on August 20, 2015 by geelw

While I didn’t to catch Richard Elfman’s bizarre Forbidden Zone in theaters during its limited release in 1980, I finally saw the film around 1985 on a loaner VHS tape and it made for quite an outrageous experience. Taken out back and shot by many critics of the time, the film has since become a cult favorite and now, thanks to MVD Entertainment Group, it’s back. This time both DVD and Blu-Ray owners will get to snap up this crazed classic in a Special Edition format complete with some new Bonus Materials:

– Audio commentary with director Richard Elfman and writer-actor Matthew Bright
– “A Look into Forbidden Zone” featuring extensive behind the scenes documentary featuring interviews and archive footage, including scenes from Elfman’s lost film “The Hercules Family.”
– Outtakes and Deleted Scenes
– Original Theatrical Trailer
– Wild new video intro by Richard Elfman with teaser clip of upcoming Forbidden Zone 2.

Blu-Ray owners can also buy the film in an Ultimate Edition that adds the Danny Elfman/Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo soundtrack. I’m going to introduce a few people to this one and let the sparks fly. It’s certainly a film that’s both a product of its time and still packs a kick in the head or three from some of its more offbeat moments (as in the entire film). Check out the kind of NSFW trailer and expect to have your eyes pop out of your skull at some point.

But that’s just the film doing what it needs to do, folks. It worked back then and I’m betting it’ll still work today.

There Goes The Neighborhood: Death of The American

Posted on August 15, 2015 by geelw

There used to be five movie theaters within walking distance of my place, six if you wanted to hoof it along a nearby highway for a spell to hit a former drive in turned multiplex. Now there are a mere two movie theaters total in the entire Bronx area, which is a shame and a sham simultaneously. When it abruptly shut down last year, The American (which was originally a Loews theater before passing in to a few hands over the years) wasn’t exactly a grand theater. Well, at least it wasn’t for the last decade or two. But it was close by, cheaper than going into Manhattan and even if the movie you saw stunk, at least the audience could be somewhat entertaining and annoying as they tend to be when all one desires is to hear what’s on screen without any peanut gallery antics. Continue reading →

Retro City Rampage REALLY Goes Retro: 486 – MS-DOS / Windows 3.1 Version Now Available

Posted on July 31, 2015 by geelw

Vblank Entertainment’s head honcho Brian Provinciano is a truly mad genius in the best possible way. His single-minded obsession with his hilarious “retro” game Retro City Rampage has led to it being released on PC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PS Vita, Xbox 360, Wii, Wii U, and Nintendo 3DS over a few short years. Now, he’s gone and reprogrammed the instant classic and has gotten the game onto a 3.5″ floppy disk for 486 computers along with a Windows 3.1 prototype as a free bonus. If you still have an old PC lying around with a floppy drive, you can (and should indeed) snap up one of the limited edition boxed versions (there were only 1000 total made) and prepare for a nostalgic trip down memory lane with a game that probably wouldn’t have existed back then and if it did, it would be hailed as a fine slice of comic genius or something like that.

If you happen to own the more modern PC version of the game already and bought it from the developer directly, guess what? You should probably check your Steam account for a nice freebie surprise. Everyone else, run or click like the wind HERE and hope for the best. Like the PS4 and Vita retail editions, this will probably sell out ridiculously fast. Yes, the game will also run on DOSBOX if you have a newer PC. I almost forgot to mention this, so now you don’t need to hit up eBay looking for some aged system to run RCR 486 on.