Category video game

ININ has returned with the second volume of the IREM Collection, featuring games from the arcade and SNES.

ININ has come back with another installment of their IREM Collection with Volume 2 and once again it is multiple games I had never heard of. There are three primary titles within the collection with a couple variations of two of them. Those titles are Air Duel, GunForce 1 and GunForce 2.

Air Duel is one of those classic looking top down shooters like 1942. These games were truly the first bullet hell games. If you weren’t quick enough to kill the planes, tanks and ships before they fire then the game becomes more difficult, almost exponentially. Playing these game, while never being very good at them, has always taken me back to playing in the arcade in my youth. The look, feel and total gameplay is exactly how I remember and despite dying, a ton, I loved it.

GunForce 1 and 2 and classic side scroller games that become to be known as a precursor to the king of all run and gun side scroller, Metal Slug. For the majority of both games its not quite so obvious but in GunForce 2 its more obvious. There are literally vehicles that are nearly the exact same in Metal Slug and I knew I had to check this out. Both titles are as unforgiving as the king is, full of nonstop mayhem and hard hitting weapons.

Thanks to these titles being ported in their arcade versions you can load up each game with enough “credits” to play to the end of them all. Of course you can add more as you go to ensure your victory. More often than not, porting vintage/classic titles feel like a lazy attempt at grabbing some nostalgia fueled funds and fall flat on the actual gameplay. For the first time though I am the EXACT demographic for this round of releases. Metal Slug is one of my ride or die titles and I grew up on games like 1942. Makes me rethink my snarky thoughts on the other releases like this. There is a perfect person or people for each release and just because its not perfect for me doesn’t its not for someone else. Honestly the only change I’d make to this game is making the controls/buttons on how to start the games easier to understand on console. It seriously took me way to long to figure out how to start. Pushing on the left stick adds credits to the game. It’s not very intuitive but once you finally get into the game and start then the controls make sense. Other than that though I had a great time with all three titles.

Camp Sunshine is a 16 bit survival horror roleplaying game that first saw success on PC and has been finally released to consoles!

The team at Fossil Games brought out their latest title Camp Sunshine from finding success on pc to see if they can do it again but on consoles. I didn’t realize this until I was writing the review but this is the second title we’re reviewed and were provided by this studio. It is also the second title by them that includes “Sunshine” in the title. Coincidence? Possibly but I doubt it. I expect that if you play them through to the end you’ll find them linked in some way. The original release of this game came out in 2023 and as far as I’m aware there is no difference to the story beyond the console you are using.

In this game you play as Jez, a young but somewhat troubled child who is attending camp. Your first night there you awake to see the aftermath of the murder of one of your bunkmates. It is now up to you to not only survive but to solve and stop the murders around the camp. The game is filled with puzzles, hidden lore and a surprising amount of core for only 16 bits. The Summer Camp Slasher is hunting you, will you help Jez with solving the puzzle and defeating the killer?

As I mentioned I was quite surprised by all they could achieve with the 16 bits and for 16 bits it looks great. The controls are intuitive, puzzles (at least the ones I attempted) were easy to grasp and solve but not so easy they were overly annoying. The music was great for creating the tone of the game and set the ambiance. Overall experience was surprisingly good and I found the game enjoyable. The only change I’d have made is releasing it early in the month of October to better grab the attention of all the horror fans, otherwise this was a surprisingly good tribute to horror stories and an enjoyable game that is more than worth the cost.

Drova Forsaken Kin is an Action-Roleplaying Game that takes the player to an otherworldly place where they must adapt to survive.

From Deck 13 and Just2D, Drova Forsaken Kin a pixel art styled action roleplaying game that takes you to an otherworldly place by travelling through a fog/mist with the aid of an ancient creature. Once arriving your companion has been killed by some sort of monster, seems to be the same that brough you to the new land.

The game started as an overly ambitious dream where a group of designers decided to form a studio. That dream was to build an open world roleplaying game as their first game, starting as students. Soon after they found their publisher and about three years after creation, the game was released. That alone makes for a great story and I must give serious props to the team. Not only did they shoot for the stars but they did it on their own terms and didn’t compromise along the way.

Inspired by Gothic and other classic roleplaying games of the last few decades, the game follows your own custom character as you wander the world of Drova, helping people and defeating monsters and wildlife along the way. Most of the creatures can not only kill you but if you fight them too soon you’ll find yourself outmatched and likely dead. My first impression of the game was that it gave definite Baldur’s Gate vibes, the original, not the new one that recently released. I loved Baldur’s Gate and the original sequel. The vibes continued as the game gives you most of the instructions through just playing and trying things or through dialogue options.

I found the game to be on the difficult side, if you’re like me and rush into danger without being careful, but not so much that it detracted from the game. The visuals rather refined for pixel art and the controls felt natural. Overall I found the game enjoyable and a worthy choice for the next time I feel the need to play an old school RPG.

Inspired by horror classics like, The Shining or The Exorcist, Skeler Boy is a tale of the lengths a teen will go to rescue his love in the latest title from Ratalaika Games!

Originally released on pc/steam by Maniac Studio and as of today, the team at Ratalaika Games have brought it over to consoles for our enjoyment. Skeler Boy is a tale of young love and the lengths our hero Skeler will go in order to save his girlfriend Megan. Currently the developers are working on editions that will be playable on both Gameboy and NES, but also currently working on the sequel. Oddly according to the Kickstarter that ended in 2021, both the Gameboy and NES versions have already been made. Perhaps they mean official release versions that are for others that didn’t participate in the Kickstarter? Time will tell on that one. What is surprising is that from this original release I couldn’t find any reviews. Literally the only mentions from that time simply refer to the status of the crowdfunding. This means I’ll be doing this one old school without knowledge of the things to watch out for and diving right in. The game starts you in a forest looking for Megan with your first real clue being a mysterious audio message.

Visually the game looks like it would fit as a classic SNES title, similar to many of the ports we’ve seen from Ratalaika. The game makes superb use of lighting which is essential for a great horror game. The game is filled with puzzles, many of which require a bit of thought before figuring them out and I expect to find many more along the way. There’s even a lockpicking section that seems like it is a bit on the realistic side and makes me wonder if it can really be this easy with the right tools? Maybe the designer has some real life experience there? The controls are easy to pickup, at least they are on Xbox, I haven’t tried on other systems so I can’t speak to them. Overall gameplay transitions between different views and how you interact with the puzzles making for a more engaging experience. Over the course of the hour I played it felt like I got quite far in the game and I expect that most player will wrap this one up within 5 hours or less. Overall it was a solid experience that uses a great deal of variety and ambiance to it’s advantage. Definitely has me curious about the pending sequel, hopefully this one will release simultaneously on the consoles at the same time.

The witch with the pink hair is back in ININ’s rails shooter Rainbow Cotton and is cuter than ever!

The young witch named Cotton has returned in Rainbow Cotton from ININ Games. Monsters are coming to eat the candy made by adorable faeries and they have called on Cotton for assistance. The game is a rails shooter, that was originally released in Japan in 2001, with Cotton riding a broom and blasting foes away with star filled spells and hexes.

Controls are extremely simple, relying on very little. One stick controls her placement on the screen where the other controls your targeting reticle for you to endlessly fire on your enemies. Where it seems a majority of games follow more of an 8 or 16 bit art pallet, this game holds to its roots on the Sega Dreamcast and even though it hasn’t really changed graphically it stands out as having far superior graphics in the nostalgia age of gaming. Rail shooters are also something I rarely see these days and even without the nostalgia factor it is nice to experience the playstyle. There are so few of these that it feels like a refreshing change of pace.

Overall, the game is adorable, has a touch of nostalgia, is simple to play and a refreshing joy in a world of unimaginative platformers that seek to cash in on our desire of playing something that reminds us of the good days.

Cyber Citizen Shockman is back for the final installment in the trilogy from Ratalaika Games with The Princess from Another World!

Cyber Citizen Shockman 3 was originally released in 1992 and has been resurrected by Ratalaika Games for current gen consoles. After winning the lottery and taking a much needed vacation, our two heroes, Arnold and Sonya, are forced to turn back into Shockman and defeat an alien threat that has ruined their vacation. This starts players on a side-scrolling adventure that looks and feels like they are still in the 90’s.

The game looks and feels like you are playing some of the run and gun classics from 90’s and looks like the continuation of the Cyber Citizen Shockman franchise that it is. For those that are new to the franchise it feels like a classic Mega-Man side scroller but without the thematic bosses who share a name with their power. The bosses in this game border on the extreme in difficulty compared to the stages themselves. This time around the gameplay is less sticky, meaning much smoother controls and animations. Which is great because in the first two installments I felt like I died more to incomplete jumps than anything else.

The game does lean towards feeling tedious as you press on between the difficult bosses and the repetitive gameplay. Visuals hit that nostalgic itch as does the gameplay itself and the story is humorous at times but not enough to keep me engaged long term.

From arcade to remaster, Lunar Lander Beyond is the latest Atari title to recreated from the ground up by Dreams Uncorporated!

Lunar Lander Beyond is the latest game to get the remastered, re-energized, polished treatment from Atari, with the help of Dreams Uncorporated. The Beyond moniker is similar to the Recharged titles, but has gone even further. It’s like playing a brand new game with the same base mechanics instead of just improving the graphics. We are even given a fully animatic cinematic experience with the gameplay, adding to the world beyond any of the previous reborn titles from Atari. Seriously, this looks and feels like it was designed from the ground up.

Sometimes you play a game and swear up and down you were playing a different title. I have memories of watching my father play Lunar Lander on our Atari back in the 80’s and him kicking my ass at it too. Looking at pictures of games from that time it’s clear that my memories have been of Gravitar after all. Memory can be a funny thing. Again, looking at the pictures it’s clear I have no memory of playing the original, despite my original claim in our review video about the game. Thankfully some followers straightened me out on that and I apologize to anyone that I confused or unintentionally misled there. Compared to the title I thought I had played, this game felt exactly like my memories of that but this time I’m at least more skilled than I was about 40 years ago. The original title was released only in arcades in 1979 and never (at least as far as my research can confirm) released on the Atari itself.

The cinematic visuals are absolutely stunning and feel like you’re watching a cyberpunk-themed anime. Game play is difficult if you are heavy handed like myself and require a lot of finesse. I typically hate games that require a gentle touch but found myself having a lot of fun. The production quality definitely helped with that.

Orion Haste from Ratalaika Games is their latest sidescroller shooter that has definite Contra vibes but with a Doom Guy cosplay.

The folks at Ratalaika Games shared another nostalgic filled title with us, this time with Orion Haste. OH is a run and gun side-scroller that pits you against an alien invasion with an array of weapons with unlimited ammo. That’s right! UNLIMITED AMMO! You play as a soldier, who remarkably looks like Doom Guy, who is tasked with ending the alien menace. Along the way you will find extra lives or health and the four weapons. Each stage starts you with having to find the weapons once again and I must say the electric beam is the best option for nearly EVERY fight. It is a never ending beam of destruction. It is great to wield. The only problem with the weapons is aiming. You are limited to up, down, left, right and the left and right upper diagonals. With using a controller with sticks for aiming I hoped for better control. This in turn limits your options when dodging the enemies.

Gameplay looks and feels like the classic Contra games in nearly every way. Even the level of difficulty felt the same. Besides the limited options for shooting the controls are quite fluid. I loved Contra and this hit me in the feels in all the right ways. I had a blast with this one. Thanks to the team at Ratalaika and PR Hound for sharing another nostalgia gem with us!

Outer Terror from Ratalaika Games is an isometric horror title that looks and feels like a twin stick shooter without a trigger.

Ratalaika Games has provided us with a code for their latest horror title, Outer Terror. The game looks and behaves like a twin-stick shooter. Only real difference is you don’t control your shots, they never stop shooting. Your focus, as far as controls are concerned, is on moving and triggering different abilities. As you level up you pick among three cards that will either heal you or power you up further. As each stage begins you get an introductory story clip with artwork that is very reminiscent of Charlie Adlard from The Walking Dead. Adlard is one of my favorite comic artists so I am absolutely here for these intros.

When you start the game there are four chapters and based on the achievement list there are others that will unlock later. As you complete chapters you collect money and can use these funds to pay for upgrades. The more you play, the more you’ll earn. The game is full of dodging and as a tip, the more money you pick up, the faster you’ll level up and that means the more upgrades you’ll unlock. By the time I finished episode 1 I had all upgrades finished within the level.

The gameplay art was a bit of a disappointment. As with most RG titles, the graphics look like it was developed for the Super Nintendo and I love them for that. However, with the fantastic intro art I was disappointed that the sprites weren’t rendered in the same style, by the same hands. Gameplay itself is smooth though and once you learn to read the map you can make quick work of some of the episodes. Overall I had a great time and look forward to seeing more of this great art as I play more episodes.

Code supplied on behalf of Ratalaika Games by PR Hound.

Xatrom Command is a twin stick shooter from the team at Ratalaika Games where you must stop the alien threat.

Aliens have invaded and it is up to you to stop them in Xatrom Command from Ratalaika Games. XC is a twin-stick shooter with blocky graphics where your objective is to kill everything alien you see. Many of these aliens a similar to animals and bugs from Earth, except some of the bosses. As with any twin-stick shooter, it is quite easy to get overwhelmed. Movement is key and NEVER stop shooting. The primary targets are tiny spider-looking things and some sort of four-legged green and purple creature. I thought it was also a bug at first but couldn’t figure out which kind. Later on you fight scorpions, snakes and tarantulas. Not to mention a boss every ten rooms or map squares.

The game is actually quite simple, not just in appearance but in controls. You have one stick to move, one to aim your gun and the right trigger to fire. Again, movement is key. Don’t let the bugs overwhelm you because you will lose health quickly. The good news is the green things that look like bushes regularly drop ammo and health.

At first glance I assumed the game would be just TOO simplistic. Between the graphics and controls there wasn’t much to it. I was wrong. Despite the simplicity I had a great time, so much so that in a single sitting I completed thirty five of the levels and every achievement in the game. Doing so took almost an hour to do total so this is a great one for achievement hunters too!