A Girl and her Eldritch Horrors

See cute and gruesome are not mutually exclusive.

So for the last couple months I've been trying to tell everyone I know who is into video gaming to check out one particular game.

They Bleed Pixels.

It's hard to explain this game though. At the same times it's gruesome and cute, frustrating and fun, colorful and dark (both in story and art).

This game is the story of an unnamed girl who while at a Victorian home for troubled girls picks up a bleeding book that slowly changes her into a clawed and purple skinned monstrosity little girl.

She's then plunged into dreams where she has to battle creatures and survive traps and terrain of blades and spikes.

Every review says this game is like Super Meat Boy but with a fighting element, which is fair. However I never enjoyed Super Meat Boy the way I have They Bleed Pixels. I know I'm speaking blasphemy. Bear with me.

You got to admit she seems to be taking it well.

The art while simple is perfectly suited to this game nothing distracts from where your focus should be. ON SURVIVAL. The music is catchy and the backgrounds really do look like they are not of Earth, yet none of these elements distracts your focus.

The one-button combat takes a while to get used to, but really is all you need for any situation. Figuring out how is the fun part.

Be warned however because this game is quite the taskmaster. I can't recall how many times I thought well that's as far as I'm going to be able to make it, so I'd focus on achievements in the first couple stages and come back to my problems spot later. Low and behold suddenly I was better and could get to the next area. I could advance! Even if it was at a snail's pace.

Every time I thought I was stuck this pattern would happen. Currently I have beaten the game, and the bonus levels and have 111 of the 126 achievements.

One review said "They Bleed Pixels will make you feel like a magician with a gamepad." Factual statement, rarely have felt more accomplishment about a video game.

While the difficulty is fiendish, the save system keeps you from losing all your sanity. Being able to plop down a save point (after killing a couple enemies or collecting enough blood droplets) means that one only needs to get a little bit further to advance. This system reduces, (but doesn't eliminate) getting stuck and killed at the same area over and over again. Plus the game teaches you which areas make for better save points when you revisit a stage later.

I picked up this game for $3.39 after Christmas, it usually is $10. If you like crazy platformers don't wait pick this game up. You can wait for a sale but I've put 60 hours on this game since Christmas. I'm not sure if I'll get those last 15 achievements but we'll see...how long my patience holds out. If your not sure, then wait for the sale, or put it on your wishlist. This game is not for everyone but it something everyone should try at least once.

This room will haunt your dreams.   

Also one piece of spoiler-y advice. DON'T show your significant other the last stage's cinematic. *SPOILER* My wife saw all the other little monster girls and has been bothering me that I need to save them. So if your reading this Spooky Squid Games, I need a DLC to save the other girls my wife demands it, and honestly I just want some more levels.

Update: I'm now up to 122/126 on achievements. 

Games You Should Know About... My Favorite Horror Video Games

It's the night of Halloween. Let's say, like me, you're alone in your home. Your friends are nowhere to be found and you've got nothing planned. You're too old for trick-or-treating, haunted attractions are only fun with a group of friends, parties are full of loud, obnoxious, drunk people. What do you do? You could kick back and enjoy a horror movie (there's no shortage of them on television this night) or you could take a more active approach and bring the horror to life in your living room. No, I'm not talking about summoning ghosts and demons (I don't terribly recommend that, unless you've got a death wish, Charles Bronson). I'm talking about horror video games. Why watch a bunch of actors get butchered when you can play as a character who narrowly misses a horrific death time after time. With a full harvest of games perfect for Halloween, you may have a tough time picking the perfect one. If that's the case, allow me to show you some of my favorite horror and Halloween themed games. Many of them are available for the XBOX 360 (through download, even), while others may require you to dust off something slightly older. So grab your contoller, turn off the lights, and dive into some digital terror.

Since this is "Games You Should Know About...," I guess I won't talk about some of the more obvious choices. Everyone should know about the Silent Hill games, so I'm not going to mention them.  Though I did enjoy Shattered Memories, for those of you who refuse to play a SH game not made by Team Silent.  The same goes for the Left 4 Dead games.  Sure, they're great, but most of us have already played them.  Besides, you're alone... all alone.  Not even your online buddies are here to save you, which kind of puts a damper on a team game like L4D.  Let's talk about some games most of you haven't played (at least, in a while).

First off, let's do an honorable mention.  There's a new Pinball FX 2 table that came out recently called Paranormal.  The story of this pinball table is that a paranormal investigator is... well, investigating all these strange phenomena.  Missions include defeating the Jersey Devil, finding the Lock Ness Monster, tracking down UFOs, etc.  This may sound like it's inspired by The X Files, but it seems to take more of a cue from the 1974 TV show Kolchak: The Night Stalker (which, in turn, was one of the inspirations for The X Files).  It's a fun table, even outside of Halloween, but you should really check it out right now because it's absolutely free for a limited time.  That's right, you have until this Wednesday, November 2, to download this table for free.  Add in the fact that the Pinball FX 2 application is free and you have a very good reason to pick both up (if you haven't, already).

So let's start with something fairly recent.  Remedy Entertainment, the guys who made the first two Max Payne games, teamed up with Microsoft to create a riveting psychological thriller of a game, Alan Wake.  You play as the eponymous Wake, a successful writer who has hit a pretty bad slump.  Your wife takes you to the quiet town of Bright Falls, nestled in the wilderness of Washington state for some rest and relaxation.  Of course, things aren't always what they seem and you find yourself running for your life in the dark woods that surround Bright Falls like an encroaching horde.  It's up to you to save your wife, uncover the dark secret of this town, and make it out alive.  While it's been a long while since I've played Max Payne, Alan Wake's gameplay feels similar to the PS2 crime thriller.  As a third person action game, you will have lots of guns and ammo to take out your enemies, but it's light that is your most important weapon.  Without it, the enemy is invincible.

This will become all too familiar sight, as you will need to

constantly dodge enemies to survive.

The game was inspired by many different sources, including the works of Stephen King, John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness, and TV shows like Twin Peaks and Lost.  The game is done in an episodic format to make it feel like a TV show (a show like this would probably be on Showtime).  There are only six episodes, so it's not very long, but there are two DLC packages that extend that.

Gameplay is good, the story is riveting, and the music is well done, including some songs by Finnish rock group Poets of the Fall (who also made a song for Max Payne 2).  I wouldn't say that the game is scary, but there were some stressful moments while fighting and dodging up to seven enemies at once.  It's good if you're looking for more of a thriller with a good story and good characters.

Speaking of Twin Peaks, our next game was heavily, I mean heavily, inspired by the TV show.  At first glance, Deadly Premonition, seems like some kind of joke, with its inferior graphics and control.  But quite a few people have realized that there is a lot to enjoy in this game.  Imagine if Silent Hill, Shenmue, and Grand Theft Auto had an unholy baby.  You play as Francis York Morgan, a quirky FBI agent who feels himself coming close to solving a string of serial murders when he investigates the violent death of Anna Graham in the quiet town of Greenvale, nestled in the wilderness of Washington state (notice a pattern, here?)  There's plenty to do in this game, whether it's tracking down the elusive killer, or the cornucopia of side missions scattered all over the town.

One thing I will mention that ties Alan Wake and this game together with Twin Peaks is the presence of a kooky lady in the town that cradles an unlikely object in their arms who may know more than people think.  In Twin Peaks, it was the Log Lady; in Alan Wake, it was the Lamp Lady; and in Deadly Premonition, it was the Pot Lady.  Seriously, there's this woman who walks about town with a casserole pot in her hands and she keeps complaining that her pot is getting too cold (despite the fact that she insists on taking it with her everywhere she goes).  There's side missions where you pick her up off of the street and drive as fast as you can to her house before her pot gets cold (no foolin', this is an actual side quest).  This game is full of strange, quirky humor like this, which is a big reason why it's so much fun.  Also, a lot of the characters are so great that you get to feel very familiar with them.  You see them on a daily basis, make chit-chat with them, and gain information and insight from them.  Eventually, you feel like your part of the town (of course, the town goes to hell toward the end of the game.

Combat in Deadly Premonition may remind

some people of Resident Evil 4.

While Alan Wake wasn't very scary, Deadly Premonition has more of a creepy vibe to it.  It's not as disturbing as the Silent Hill games, but I do get an uneasy feeling shooting these bizarre monsters that walk toward you backwards with their upper bodies bent backwards toward you while they try to force their hands down your throat.  It's definitely an odd game, but it's one worth playing.  This is, without a doubt, the biggest cult classic on the XBOX 360.

Now, if you were to ask me what the scariest game I ever played was, I would only have two words for you: Fatal Frame.  While I'm not an easy guy to scare, I have been known to feel the chill of terror while playing a video game.  No other game has scared the crap out of me quite like Fatal Frame on the PS2 (or XBOX, if you're so inclined).  While three of the games have been released in the US, I'm primarily talking about the first one, for that's the one I played. 

Part of the reason this game is so scary is because you are completely alone in an old, haunted mansion in Japan.  In a lot of other survival horror games, you get a break from the terror when you meet up with other innocent people (of course, Silent Hill has you meeting with some pretty fucked up individuals).  In the first Fatal Frame, you don't run into other people.  It's just you and a house full of tormented ghosts.  Your only defense is a mystical camera that drains the spirit energy of the ghosts until they dissipate into oblivion.

Unfortunately, you have to switch to the camera aim mode, which makes you move extremely slow while trying to keep the ghosts in your viewfinder.  This means that you are unable to dodge the ghosts as they lunge at you, howling and tormenting you (especially the blind ghost - you would think that having no eyes would make it hard for her to attack you - you'd be wrong).  Let's just say you may never be able to turn off the lights ever again.

Gah!  Take the picture, quickly!  Do it!  NOW!!!

If you're not interested in scaring yourself so bad, you need adult diapers, with the Fatal Frame games, you may be more inclined in something more old school.  No retro game is perfect for Halloween than one from the Castlevania series.  Of course there's plenty to choose from, but my favorites would probably be Super Castlevania IV for the SNES, Castlevania Bloodlines for the Genesis, or Symphony of the Night for the PS1 (which is also available for download on XBOX 360).  If you have a Nintendo Wii, you can pick up Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth, which is a remade version of the first Castlevania game for the Game Boy.  I didn't really have anything else to say about Castlevania, I just like playing those games around Halloween.  Just thought I'd mention it.

But, seriously, if you're looking for a more humorous game for Halloween, there's only one group you can call: Ghostbusters.  Ghostbusters: The Video Game was released two years ago, but it's great fun for all Ghostbusters fans (and, let's be honest, who doesn't want to bust some ghosts?).  The game stars the iconic cast of the movies (sans Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis) in a new adventure during the early nineties and was written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis.  You play as the new rookie of the team and prototype tester of all the new toys as you help the other Ghostbusters defeat Gozer once and for all.  Great third person action and a lot of classic Ghostbusters humor make this a game worth playing (don't even bother with Sanctum of Slime, it sucks).

Finally, for those who miss those good old days where we dressed up in shoddy costumes, walked through neighborhoods for candy, and spent the next week on a non-stop sugar high, there's Costume Quest, an RPG where you play a kid who must try to save your sibling while going through your neighborhood, the mall, a country town, and the underworld trying to save Halloween from a group of goblins and a disgruntled witch.  While the game is not very long, it will only take you a handful of hours to beat the game, Double Fine (creators of awesome games like Psychonauts and Brütal Legend) made a game that completely captures the spirit of Halloween for children.  It's a testament to childhood imagination and a love letter to Halloween that every kid-at-heart should play.  And when you're done with the game, you can pick up the DLC which makes the logical jump to the next big holiday after Halloween (no, not Thanksgiving - who would make a video game about Thanksgiving?).  By the way, do goblins really celebrate Christmas?

Okay, so those are my favorite games to play for Halloween.  Of course, by the time I finished writing this, Halloween is almost over - go figure.  Well, there's nothing that says you have to wait for Halloween to play these games.  Don't tell me you don't play horror games on All Saints Day.  What the hell is wrong with you?

Until next time, Happy Halloween for the next 38 minutes.

Games You Should Know About... XBOX Live Indie Games 4: Match of Titans

Originally, the subject of this Games You Should Know About... was going to be Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, which came out in an HD collection for the PS3 this week.  Both of which are fantastic games, but the only way I wouldn't say what any game critic worth their salt has already said (which is "buy this game, dammit!") is by telling all the haters to go fuck off.  All I could really add to the subject is just me griping that those who bitched about these games have an imagination and attention span large enough to fit on the head of a pin (that means you're mentally bankrupt, asswipe).  So, in the spirit of repetition, "buy this game, dammit!"

Fortunately, September has been a pretty good month for XBOX Live Indie games.  I've got three new titles available that I think are worth five times the small amount of Microsoft Points they're asking for.

First off, since Halloween is soon approaching, I thought I'd get a jump start on a game perfect for sating your uncontrollable hunger for 8-bit horror.  Now, I know the market is flooded with zombie-apocalypse-survival-horror games, and XBOX Live Indie is no exception, but this is a zombie game with some real substance and staying power.  Load your shotgun and prepare to run from Dead Pixels (clever name).

This official art definitely adds to the game's feel

of watching an old grindhouse zombie movie -- Nice!

Created by Scottish indie developer CANTSTRAFERIGHT, Dead Pixels feels like a cross between Left 4 Dead and River City Ransom, though the plethora of inspirations and in-game references span the gamut of zombie movies, video games, etc.  You play as a lone survivor (or a pair of survivors in a two-player game) who must plow through a horde of zombies to "get to tha' choppa'" and escape.  Just so you know, these zombies are the radioactive brand, created from spilled nuclear waste, not the viral outbreak or the necromantic kind.

The game has you going further and further to the right (though you can go left to get something that you didn't pick up earlier), shooting zombies, looting buildings, and trading with makeshift stores for guns, ammo, and toilet paper (yes, you can sell toilet paper to them).  The further you go, the more varieties of zombies you come up against, each kind harder than the last.  Though the zombies don't say things like "Barf!" at the bottom of the screen, they do leave behind money to collect.  You can also upgrade certain abilities at stores to make you a better zombie slaying machine.

Gameplay is extremely fun and harder difficulty settings add more streets for you to run through to get to the goal, which allows you to customize your game length.  The best part about Dead Pixels is that the developer has promised add-on content (what he likes to call "free DLC") for every sales milestone the game reaches.  After three days in the marketplace, the game already reached its first milestone (4,000 units) and he is working on a new game mode called "The Solution."  It also seems that there'll be another add-on after that, since the second milestone (10,000 units) was recently surpassed.  If you want to keep track of the add-on developments and sales milestones, check out the official Facebook page.

Oh yeah, did I mention it only costs a buck?

Up next is Robotriot, an action platform game from Retromite.  In this game, you play a robot who looks like the love-child of The Black Hole's V.I.N.CENT and T-Bob from MASK.  Your job is to infiltrate rogue spaceships and disable their power cores so that your boss can have them towed.  Yes, the hero of the game is a robo repo man.

Of course, just like in the real repo business, you have to deal with people trying to stop you from taking their transportation.  Though, instead of the hung-over guy in a wife beater and soiled boxers pointing a shotgun at you, you're dealing with security systems rife with robots, gun emplacements, and hazardous obstacles.  Fortunately, you have some firepower to keep things even.  There's a lot of shooting switches, finding keycards, and using moving platforms to satisfy action platform fans.  While this is usually not my kind of game, I found myself enjoying this one.  One thing I will say is, for a game that only costs $1, the graphics and music are really good.  It looks and sounds like a high end 16-bit game.

If you like exploring levels with platforms and switches and shooting up enemies, pick up Robotriot.  It's also going to be available on Android phones as well as the iPhone and iPad (not that I'm interested in doing anything on my phone other than making calls, but whatever floats your boat).



Speaking of high quality games, our final game, Wizorb, is a thing of beauty.  Imagine a game like Atari's Breakout or Taito's Arkanoid, add magic spell power-ups that are fueled by a magic meter, some RPG elements, and a healthy dose of monsters, and you have Wizorb.  While this may be the first work from Tribute, the Montreal based development team that made this game, I could have sworn this game was made by seasoned veterans of the industry.  Don't believe me?  Just take a look at the website for the game.  There's not much to it, right now, but it looks great.

The high production doesn't end there, either.  The graphics are beautiful, the sprite animation is silky smooth, and the soundtrack is great.  Wizorb looks like a highly polished and rare game for the Sega Master System -- maybe even Super Nintendo.  Fortunately, it's an unbelievably gorgeous and extremely fun XBOX Live Indie game for only $3.  This is a MUST BUY.

Storywise, you play Cyrus, a wizard with the rare and mysterious power of the Wizorb, who must save the kingdom of Gorudo from legions of monsters.  While you're saving the kingdom, you'll come across a town that needs your help in rebuilding (by spending gold, of course).  Each building you repair gives you items or new options, such as a store, to help you on your quest.

I've only played the game for about five minutes, but I can already tell this game is a solid winner (I played the demo.  Once I get my first paycheck from my new job, I'll drop the funds for this one).  With fantastic graphics and sound and awesome gameplay, you have no reason to skip this game.  Buy it.  Seriously, buy it.  Just friggin' buy it.



One more game to mention, though you won't find it on XBOX.  While digging up some info on these games, I came across another game called Ninja Senki.  Some of you may have heard of it, since it came out last December.  If you haven't, it's an old school action platformer in a similar vein to the Mega Man series.  It's only available for PC, but it is free to download.  Check out the website and enjoy.

Hope that buffet of cheap games holds you over until the next crop.  I'll see you guys next week.

Some Dragon Quest-ness and the 75th Birthday of a Legend

So Square Enix is celebrating 25 years of Dragon Quest (like many other classic NES franchises).  While the Dragon Quest games have been successful in the U.S. (initially under the name Dragon Warrior), it's the Japanese gamers that made the franchise a phenomenon and kept it alive for so long.  Of course, Square Enix rewarded them with the Dragon Quest 25th Anniversary Collection for the Wii, which features the Famicom and Super Famicom emulations of the first three games (known as the Loto Trilogy) along with a bunch of extras.  Needless to say, it's not coming out Stateside.  C'mon, guys!  First, we are denied Xenoblade and The Last Story (even though they were released in Europe) now this?  Seriously, Nintendo of America, it's like you don't want people to buy the Wii.  What the hell is wrong with you?!

For those of us who do not live in Japan, all we can do is salivate at these videos.  This first one is the Japanese trailer for the collection, featuring all the great extras that are included.  So friggin' jealous.



Next is the anime intro to the game, which was done by the same animation studio who did the intro for Dragon Quest IX, Kamikaze Douga.  The intro summarizes the legends of the great hero, Loto, and his descendants that are the focus of these first three games.  Enjoy.



While there's probably no chance in hell we'll get the anniversary collection, we do get some Dragon Quest games coming our way.  For those who enjoy the pet monster offshoot of the franchise, Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 came out recently.  Of course, Japan also got an expanded version of the game, Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 Professional, which came out last March, but the American release is of the original game.  Whatever.



Then, there's Dragon Quest X, which will be the first time, since Dragon Warrior IV, that a Dragon Quest game came to a Nintendo home console in the U.S. (Dragon Quest V and VI came out for the Super Famicom in Japan).  Here's the trailer from this year's Tokyo Game Show.



Yeah, I can't wait to play it, either.  It's supposed to be available for the Wii and WiiU (whether or not it makes a difference which system you play it on is unknown to me).

Okay, one more video.  Today would have marked Jim Henson's 75 birthday.  Though he died 21 years ago, his vision and legacy still live on.  Here's one of my favorite Muppet moments.  Happy birthday, Jim.

Forgotten Worlds - Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection

I may be a bit late on this tidbit, but I recently found a website from Namco Bandai that allows you to play the world's biggest game of Pac-Man.  Basically, it's a version of Pac-Man that is swelling with user created levels and continues to grow.  You can even create your own personalized levels and add to the collection.  I created a level based on another Namco classic celebrating its 30th anniversary (as if you need to guess).  Start out with my custom level here, then create and explore this enormous Pac-Man game to your heart's content.

Fans of Ms. Splosion Man who have Pinball FX2, exclusively for XBOX 360, should check out the new pinball table based on Twisted Pixel's explosive valley girl.  Download the trial version for free (Pinball FX2 is also free to download, if you don't have it, yet) and play it for yourself.

Also available, this week, is a collection of one of the most controversial arcade franchises in history.  Mortal Kombat has been showering gamers with blood and gore since 1992 (which means it's one year short of its 20th anniversary).  Since then, the series has had its ups and downs.  Sure, there have been some decent games after the first three, but they couldn't recapture the awesomeness of the original games.  They tried adding weapons, multiple fighting styles, crossovers with comic book superheroes (which was a stupid idea), and even offshoot games (which was even worse).  Nothing could completely win over gamers quite like the original trilogy.

When Midway went out of business, Mortal Kombat seemed to die with it, until Warner Bros. picked up the intellectual property and Ed Boon worked on resuscitating the franchise with a more back-to-basics approach that returned, somewhat, to the original style of gameplay, but pushed the envelope on the characteristic gore and brutality that made the series extremely popular back in the day.

This week, NetherRealm studios (the team that was reborn from the ashes of Midway Games) released a downloadable collection of the first three Mortal Kombat games: Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection.  Sure, all three of these games have been available in previous arcade classic collections, but this one adds loads more extras, such as new visual modes (including one that makes it look like you're playing the game on a curved CRT monitor, giving you the feeling of being back in the old arcades.  On top of the cosmetic extras, you can play against people online, which seems to be a must for fighting games, these days.

I played the demo of this collection and it brought back memories, for me.  Back in those days, Mortal Kombat introduced a different style of fighting game.  Most fighting games used to be clones of Street Fighter II, which dominated arcades the year before.  Mortal Kombat was different in many ways.  Aside from the obvious, the game used a different control scheme; there were high and low attacks for both kicks and punches, plus a block button.   You had to enter a button combination to pull off the famous Fatalities.  There were secrets and Easter eggs to uncover during gameplay.  It was an entirely new philosophy on how to create a fighting game.

I remember seeing Mortal Kombat for the first time at the local bowling alley and it blew my mind.  I watched my brother and my friends play it (I actually sucked at Mortal Kombat, since I was more accustomed to Street Fighter II).  The game had this irresistible combination of digitized sprites of real actors, uncensored violence and brutality, and a story and atmosphere that reminded me of Enter the Dragon.

Of course, when the game was announced for home systems, my brother and I had to have it.  Unfortunately, there was a reason why arcades were still doing pretty well during the early '90s: ports of arcade games remained inferior to the originals.  Mortal Kombat was no exception.  We got the Super Nintendo version of the game and were extremely disappointed in the result.  All of the awesome crap was watered down.  They changed the blood to look like sweat (though it looked like the characters were bleeding sand) and the Fatalities were heavily doctored.  Nintendo's censorship in their games ruined what could have been a great port.  Even though Sega had no problem with the blood and gore, the godawful graphics and sound screwed up the Genesis port.  It was best just to stick with the arcade version.

1993 saw the rise of Mortal Kombat II, which improved upon every aspect of the original.  Better graphics and sound, new characters, new moves and Fatalities (including Babalities and Friendships, which made fun of the controversy surrounding the first game).  Gone was the storyline of a Shaolin tournament taken over by a shapeshifting mastermind, which was replaced by a fight against an inter-dimensional warlord and his cadre of fighters, sorcerers, and assassins.  By this point, the story wasn't so convoluted and ridiculous yet, so I actually enjoyed it.  The otherworldly aspects of the setting were kind of cool.  Of course, my brother and I got this on the Super Nintendo, but only because they recanted their stance on censorship.  This port of MK II left all the blood and violence in, much to the delight of many gamers.

Then came Mortal Kombat 3 and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (which became the definitive version), which felt like a step down, in some ways.  A lot of things changed in the two years since MK II.  The game became extremely dependent on doing combos, which kind of distanced me further from the fighting engine.  Even more characters were added to the roster, which tangled the storyline with a bunch of subplots.  The graphics were better than the first two, but the stages and new characters felt uninspired.  I'll admit, it was still enjoyable to watch, but it wasn't as fun as the first two games.

After Mortal Kombat 4, a lot of gamers abandoned the series.  By this point, the story was too involved with too many characters that it was not worth following.  It also didn't help that things were getting stale, gameplay-wise.  I've played some of the console sequels, like Armageddon, but it just wasn't the same.

That's why it's refreshing to have this collection of the first three games available.  While I still suck at them, it does remind me of a young gamer who used to ride his bike down the street to play all the new arcade games.  The hell with Quan Chi and Shinnok, screw the DC crossover, and Bo' Rai Cho can suck it.  Give me the classic MK trilogy any day.

Games You Should Know About... XBOX Live Indie Games 3: Dream Warriors

This just in: Thursday is the new Wednesday.  We now return you to your irregularly scheduled blogram.

A couple of video game classics are celebrating a birthday, this August.  The Super Nintendo turned 20 this week and Metroid turned 25 earlier in the month.  You know, so many damn games and systems came out 20-25 years ago.  Then again, a lot of games also came out 30 years ago, so I've got my work cut out for me.

This week, though, we're donning the scuba gear and hazmat suits again.  It's time to go back for another spelunking mission into the hellhole of XBOX Live Indie games.  I've brought two new games up to the surface, plus I'll be revisiting two games that I've mentioned before.  As always, these games have that classic video game feel that I love.

Forgotten Worlds - Galaga Turns 30 (Part 4)

(This post is going to be video heavy, so I hope you guys watch them.)

Last time, I looked at the sequels to Galaga, which is a sequel to Galaxian.  By that logic, it would make sense that Gaplus and Galaga '88 are sequels to Galaxian, as well.  To some people, they are, but there actually was another arcade game that can be considered a direct sequel: Galaxian 3 (which would mean that Galaga would be "Galaxian 2").  Though there really wasn't much of a story to these games to warrant sequels.  After all, the only plot we get from Galaxian is "We are the Galaxians.  Mission: Destroy aliens."  So it's hard to tell how the games flow into each other.

That changed with Galaxian 3 (which has the subtitle Project Dragoon).  While you could only fill out a few pages with the plot, the game does tell the story of a United Galaxy Space Force gunship known as the Dragoon.  It is called out into space to prevent this race of mechanized aliens from destroying Earth with the planet shattering Cannon Seed.  The game used a combination of a traditional arcade board and laserdisc players, similar to some of the laserdisc games of the 1980s.  The laserdisc players provided the backgrounds while the arcade boards made the on screen enemies and other effects, such as explosions or your targeting reticle.

Instead of piloting the Dragoon, players are gunners that aim the ship's turrets at the alien armada that awaits them.  The interesting thing about this game is that it was made for large groups.  In its initial incarnation, in 1990, Galaxian 3 was actually a theme park attraction that had its own building.  The first one, the GH-28 model, actually seated up to 28 people!  Imagine a 28 player video game that wasn't online.  How insane is that?  Only two GH-28 models were ever made, but Namco also created a GM-16 model, which housed, you guessed it, 16 players at once.  While the GH-28 was used in big conventions, such as Osaka's Expo '90, the GM-16 models were installed in Namco's Wonder Eggs amusement parks.  Both models have a similar design: all the "technical stuff" was at the center of a circular room.  The consoles where the players sat ringed around it with the players facing outward.  The game was projected on the outer wall and divided in half (the screen was broken up by the entrance and exit on opposite ends of the room.

 Here's a diagram of the GH-28 model.

The "pilot" and "co-pilot" are the staff that operate the ride.  I say ride because, at least for the GH-28, the central area was actually a platform that had a hydraulic system.  This allowed the platform to rock back and forth while the game played, giving the feeling of the Dragoon listing as it took damage.  From what I've seen, it doesn't look like the GM-16 had this hydraulic system, so that's one of the few differences.  If you look at this promotional video, you'll see the GH-28 in action (as well as other Namco attractions, such as a ride based on the arcade game Tower of Druaga).

(By the way, if you want to find these theme park versions of Galaxian 3, don't bother.  They were all shut down at the turn of the century.)

After creating these attractions for theme parks, Namco was interested in creating a version of this game for game centers (which is what they call arcades in Japan).  Of course, they would have to scale down the number of people who could play to fit the game in smaller buildings.  Namco worked on designing the arcade version, but, for some reason, scrapped the project.  However, something did come out of that research, but it wasn't Galaxian 3.  Compare these two videos: the first one is footage from the arcade version of Galaxian 3 (you don't have to watch the whole thing -- just skip to the middle of the video).



The second video is footage from another Namco arcade game that came out in 1991: Starblade.



If you notice they look a lot alike, it's because Starblade was the remnants of their project to turn Galaxian 3 into a one player arcade game.  My guess is that they felt that Galaxian 3 needed to be a multiplayer game -- one player wouldn't have the same effect.  So they changed the name and released it into arcades.  I actually remember playing Starblade.  The sit down cockpit with a concave mirror display made it feel like you were surrounded.  I also remember the strobe light right above the player's head.  Each time you got hit, it would flash.  Heaven help you if your ship was about to blow up, because that strobe would go nuts on you.  You know those warnings about how certain video games can induce seizures?  This was definitely one of those games.  Anyway, Starblade gets an honorable mention -- it's not really considered part of the Galaxian series, but it is a distant cousin to Galaxian 3.

After a few more years, Namco finally revealed the fruits of their labors.  In 1994, a six player version of Galaxian 3 arrived in arcades, known as the Theater 6 system.  While it definitely was diminished from the GH-28 and GM-16 models, it was still a behemoth.  The "cockpit" was practically the size of a large bathroom.

I could probably set up a sleeping bag

and, theoretically, live in there.

Six players sit, side-by-side, in front of a huge projection screen.  Other than that, its almost the same thing as the GM-16.  Later on, Namco made another game using the Theater 6 system: Attack of the Zolgear, which was the sequel to Galaxian 3.  Sadly, I've never seen one of these in person.  I have heard that some arcades re-purposed the Theater 6 for other games, but I doubt that I will ever find an original Galaxian 3 in the US.

Both Galaxian 3 and Starblade made their way to the original Playstation in 1996, but only Starblade (renamed Starblade Alpha, with an enhanced graphics version) made its way to the States.  Meanwhile the Playstation version of Galaga 3 (again, not available for US Playstations) only has four player support, but adds a new sequel, The Rising of Gorub.

And so ends my Galaga retrospective -- 30 years of classic gaming and still going strong.  If you ever happen to pass by any of these games in an arcade, bowling alley, or neglected corner of a movie theater, drop a quarter and give them some love.

Until next time, keep your scores high and the Earth free from alien bugs.

(Special thanks to the forums at dragonslairfans.com, especially user DarthNuno, who compiled a lot of information involving Galaxian 3.  Images and videos on this post are courtesy of him.)

Forgotten Worlds - Galaga Turns 30 (Part 3)

Given the runaway success of Galaga, Namco wanted to see if they could make lightning strike twice.  There have been a few sequels, not to mention remakes and arrange versions, but none of them seemed to capture the gaming public quite like Galaga.  This isn't to say that they aren't enjoyable, so don't discount them so easily.

In 1984, Namco updated the formula started with Galaxian further with Gaplus.  This time, Gaplus added loads more new features than its predecessors: faster action, power-ups, collecting parts to get a 1-up, secret "easter eggs," and the ability to move your ship up and down (instead of just left and right).  One of the power-ups you can get from shooting the "Queen" Gaplus (similar to the "Boss" Galaga) is the capture beam (again, similar to the "Boss" Galaga -- the poor guy).  Getting the capture beam allows you to capture dive-bombing Gaplus and use them for extra firepower.  You would think that this makes the game too easy, but, in later levels, it's really hard to survive without some Gapluses (Gapli?) backing you up.  The "Challenging Stages" have changed, too.  Instead of trying to shoot a bunch of enemies that swoops by, you have to juggle them by continuously shooting them.  Each time you hit one, the game slowly starts to spell out a word.  Complete the word and you get a bonus (all of this should make sense in the video below, even if you don't speak Japanese).



Despite coming from a pedigree of great shooters, Gaplus wasn't a big hit.  It was renamed Galaga 3 because some people thought the game strayed too far from Galaga to be recognized as a sequel.  Even so, the video game crash of 1983 sealed this game's fate.  While this game is not as well recognized as others in the series, you can still find this game, especially if you have a Nintendo Wii.  It can be found on Namco Museum Remix or available for the Virtual Console for $6.

That makes no sense.  Where's Galaga 2?

 Three years later, Namco tried again with Galaga '88 (yes, that means it was released in 1987).  This time, the gameplay didn't stray too far from the original Galaga -- gone were all of the features of Gaplus.  Instead, they significantly improved the graphics and sound.  The only added feature to Galaga '88 was the ability to travel to higher dimensions.  Higher dimensions have different looking enemies with increasing difficulty, but reaching them nets you bonus points.

Even though Galaga '88 was better received than Gaplus, less units of the arcade game were made, so it wasn't as widespread.  There are only two ways to play this game (with the exception of the Galaga 30th Anniversary Collection for the iPhone, which I don't own), on the Namco Museum 50th Anniversary collection for last-gen consoles or on the Wii's Virtual Console.

In 1995, there was a compilation arcade cabinet in Japan that included arrangement versions of Galaga, Xevious, and Mappy.  Galaga Arrangement is of note here because it's the only Galaga game to support two players simultaneously.  Other features, such as faster shooting and new rules for "Boss" Galagas, have been added, too.  This version of Galaga is only available in the US through Namco Museum for last-gen consoles.  I really don't know very much about this version, so I'll let this video speak for itself.



Well, those are the direct sequels to Galaga (not including that mediocre PS1 title, Galaga: Destination Earth -- Namco didn't even make that one).  There are a few more games dealing with Galaxian, though, but we'll save that for next time.

Until then, keep your scores high and the quarters flowing.

Forgotten Worlds - Galaga Turns 30 (Part 2)

 

Anyway, back to Galaga's 30th anniversary.

In 1978, Taito created what would be considered one of the most influential games in arcade history: Space Invaders.  Considered the father of all shoot 'em ups, its popularity has spawned a plethora (I say plethora) of direct imitators.  Out of all of them, the most popular has to be Namco's Galaxian.

Created one year later, Galaxian takes the classic formula of Space Invaders and adds its own elements.  Where Space Invaders had you fighting rows of aliens as they slowly advanced toward the planet, bombarding you with death rays, Galaxian had your ship and the enemies floating through space.  One-by-one, the aliens fly toward you, kamikaze style.  It was a style cloned by other games, such as Phoenix and Gorf (which had a mission called "Galaxians," as Midway owned the rights to many Namco games in the US (something they would abuse on many occasions).

With the sequel, Galaga, Namco perfected the formula they started.  Galaxian only added dive bombing enemies to Space Invaders' foundation (even a lot of the sounds from Galaxian are extremely reminiscent of Space Invaders).  Even though Galaga overshadowed its predecessor, Galaxian was still very popular and is considered a classic.

If you've never played Galaxian (which has been ported to just as many console systems as Galaga), check out this video and compare with the gameplay of Galaga.

And if you enjoyed making your own mini Galaga machine out of paper, here's the papercraft version of Galaxian to add to your papercade.  Click, print, cut, fold, paste - you get the idea.

Next time, on Forgotten Worlds, (maybe next week, maybe not), I'll go over the sequels to Galaga.  Keep in mind, these are not sequels to Galaxian.  I'll get to those another time.

Keep your scores high and the quarters flowing.

Tribe update

It's been a little while since I talked about the ongoing adventures of the Tribe Server. We now have most of the bugs worked out, we seem to have found a bunch of new people since the Uber update, and we now have a somewhat active community. In fact right after the update or server was fully loaded for a good chunk of a week. It's drop off some, but we hope to get back up to there soon.

You say that's great but I don't play TF2. Well we also have Tribe members who will team up with you in Spiral Knights, Left for Dead 1, and 2, Portal 2 co-op (if your still working on that.), Monday Night Combat, etcetera, etcetera.

Also we have our own website now, you can join Tribe there, or through our Steam Group. Eventually people who donate money to keep the server running will get special perks in TF2. Such as not getting auto-corrected in game, and being able to pick their team. We won't be doing anything that unbalances the game, if you want to donate money to build multiple turrets you can go elsewhere. There are already plently of servers that allow that.

We may also be giving out hats that only work on the Tribe server or have giveaways in the group. Keep your eyes peeled. But if you want some people to PC game with. Look us up we have a lot of people who are friendly and good at the games.

See you around.

Games You Should Know About... Earth Defense Force 2017

It was only two days ago that people across America were celebrating... well, being American.  Granted, the Fourth of July commemorates the nation's independence from Britain after a hard fought war over 200 years ago, but we get along with the British, nowadays.  Besides, I don't think George Washington crossed the Delaware in deathly cold weather so we could go swimming, eat bratwurst (man, I could go for a bratwurst), and shoot off tiny, explosive charges into the sky.

It doesn't matter, though.  While I do live in America, I consider myself more a citizen of the world.  The US Armed Forces are nice, but they've got nothing on the Earth Defense Force: destroying mutated insects, giant robots, and an armada of alien invaders with all sorts of lasers, masers, and rocket launchers.  Those are the kind of fireworks I'm into.

I say this because Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon came out this week.  While I am interested in playing it, I do have my doubts.  This is the first title in the series not created by Sandlot, who made the other games in the Chikyuu Boueigun series (which is Japanese for Earth Defense Force) and the PS2 cult classic Robot Alchemic Drive.  Instead, Insect Armageddon was made by Vicious Cycle, who also created Robotech: Battlecry (which was good) and Robotech: Invasion (which was not).  Despite this, most reviews have been pretty favorable, so far, so I'll give the game a shot.  But I'm not talking about Insect Armageddon, today.  Nope, the game you guys should know about is its predecessor.  We're taking a look at Earth Defense Force 2017 for the XBOX 360.

Even though this is the first EDF title to reach US shores (unless you count Earth Defense Force for the Super Nintendo -- no relation), it's actually the third game in the Chikyuu Boueigun series.  The first two were released for the Playstation 2, but only in Japan and Europe.  EDF 2017 is also part of publisher D3's Simple series, which are low budget games that were inexpensive for the consumer (Agetec published a few of the Simple titles for the original Playstation in the States).  Think of them as the video game equivalent to B-movies.

In EDF 2017, you play as a member of Storm 1, one of the special units in the EDF Japan Division.  One day, a giant mothership appears over Japan just as hordes of giant insects, robots, cyborg dinosaurs, and spaceships attack all over the Earth.  It's up to you to destroy the alien menace and save the planet.  As you keep playing, you pick up armor upgrades (which increases your hit points) and new weapons (over 300 to collect).  There's also five different difficulty levels that give the game a high replay value: Easy, Normal, Hard, Hardest, and Inferno (which, strangely enough, is harder than Hardest).  Split screen co-op is also really fun and, probably, the best way to play this game (no online co-op -- just invite a friend over to your place, you lazy bum).

I won't say this is a highly polished game, though.  The enemies, whether they're ants, spiders, robots, or spaceships, only have one tactic: cluster-fuck you until you die.  Of course, there really isn't any strategy for you, either.  Just keep blasting them and retreat when the cluster-fuck gets to be too much.  There are vehicles to use, but they're practically useless; except for the helicopter, which is only available in a few levels.  Most of the levels take place in city landscapes, though there are countryside, beach, and the most annoying underground levels that are hard to navigate.  The dialogue is extremely cheesy, with teammates shouting, "Come this way, and I'll kill you," "How do you like the taste of my bullets?" and the team chanting a fan favorite, "E-D-F!  E-D-F! E-D-F!"  While the graphics aren't bad for a 360 game, it does suffer from some heavy slowdown, especially when the aforementioned cluster-fucks happen.  Fortunately, most of these idiosyncrasies actually add to the B-movie charm which makes this game so great.

If you're the kind of gamer that doesn't mind a shallow, cheesy plot and minor technical limitations, so long as you're having fun (personally, this is the only kind of gamer that matters), then you owe it to yourself to get EDF 2017.  You may have to do some searching to find this game at local game stores, but you can also download it onto your XBOX 360 for the bargain basement price of $19.99.  So what are you waiting for?  Celebrate your independence by wresting it from the clutches of evil aliens.

If you'll excuse me, I need to see if I can find an Earth Defense Force patch for sale online.  E-D-F!  E-D-F!

Here's the Japanese trailer for the game, because the American trailer makes the game look like a Michael Bay film, which is lame.

Pony Kombat!

Boog is having computer issues, and asked me to cover for him. So while messing around I found a bizarre link, that upended my plans for tonight's post.

Evidently there is a fan made My Little Pony fighting game coming out for PC. No I'm serious. There's even a video.

See I'm not full of crap. My wife is pretty much obsessed with this show as are her friends. I think it's cute, but I'm not really a fan. I doubt she's going to be excited about this. Although maybe I'm wrong and she will want to take Applejack (her favorite) through Ponyville, and stomp every-ponies cutiemark*.

I've got to say the art looks good. The game looks like the animation and control will be at least as good as an old SNES fighting game. Honestly the style reminds me of  Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters game (SNES version) with a graphical upgrade. If you want more information on this game there is an FAQ here.

Looking throught the FAQ it looks like the creators are fans of the show but I have to caution, as excited as fans of ponies, and video games maybe I'm not going to hold my breath for this to get released. I have a feeling someone is going to drop a Cease and Desist, and this game will disappear. So if you happen to see a link for this game later, you may want to grab it while you can.

So to end this post here's me as a pony, because my friends are weird.
I guess my eyesight got better as a pony, well take care, and I'll see you tomorrow.

Meet the Medic aka Ribs Grow Back

Holy Crap! You probably already heard, because this is the internet, and if you don't post it immediately you're too late. (Stupid work getting in the way of my dream of being a big name blogger), but Valve had something to show you today.



Meet the Medic...he's brilliant, he's crazy, he's finally got his own short intro film. I wasn't sure what to expect from the Medic's film, but I certainly wasn't expecting this. We were planning to do a big write-up for this short. But really the film speaks for its self.

However one other piece of news coming from Valve almost trumps their latest release. Team Fortress 2 is now free. Not just for this week, but for...ever. Here's the FAQ, if the idea of a game being free is hard to comprehend. (No actually there's some good info in the FAQ, especially on how it's going to reward those who spent money the game in the past.)

Also there's a trailer.



By the way be sure to check out all the new weapons, accessories, and hats that came out during the last update...the Uber Update.

Oh and if you need someone to play TF2 with feel free to look me and my friends up, we're always looking for fun people to play with TF2, Spiral Knights (also free), or other games as well.

Games You Should Know About... Retro Game Challenge

First off, this week marks the official 20th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog.  I plan on doing a Cart Classics retrospective of the series, but that will take time to get going.  Hopefully, you'll see it later this year.  Until then, happy birthday, Sonic.

My other announcement is that one of the best video game shows you probably aren't watching is finally hitting Stateside.  Game Center CX is a Japanese TV show where the host, comedian Shinya Arino, is asked to complete challenges in difficult old school games.  Much to the amusement of the show's staff and countless Japanese viewers, Arino often struggles in his quest, but usually emerges triumphant.  Other segments in the show have Arino visiting arcades in Japan, interviewing game designers (usually for the game he's playing during that episode), or trying out failed consoles and peripherals.  For the past couple of years, Fuji TV (the company behind Game Center CX as well as the original Iron Chef) was looking for international distributors to bring the show to other countries.  Finally, Gawker Media got the rights to broadcast the show on one of their flagship blog sites, Kotaku.  Starting tomorrow, June 23, Kotaku will stream translated episodes of the show every Thursday at 8 pm EST (that's 7:00 pm Central, for us Midwesterners).

Currently, it is unknown whether the show will have English subtitles or be dubbed by a voice-over (I'm gunning for subtitles), but the show's name has been changed to Retro Game Master.  They most likely did this to tie in brand recognition with the DS game Retro Game Challenge, which came to the States two years ago.  By the way, this is definitely a game you should know about...

Forgotten Worlds - Galaga Turns 30 (Part 1)

Thirty years ago, arcade history was made.  Namco released one of the most popular video games in the world, Galaga.  Now, Namco has had a storied history of some of the greatest arcade games ever made, including Dig Dug, Pole Position, Tekken, Soul Edge/Soul Calibur, and, of course, Pac-Man, but Galaga is special.  It's one of those few games from the golden age of arcades that just about everyone has played.  Even kids today have played this game.  It begs the question of how a simple shooter from 1981 became such a phenomenon.

The answer is simple: Galaga was friggin' everywhere.  Galaga is one of the most prevalent arcade cabinets (whether by itself, or with Ms. Pac-Man in the 20th Anniversary arcade cabinet, which means Ms. Pac-Man is also 30).  You could find it at thousands of arcades, movie theaters, laundromats, bars, pizza places, etc.  Many major video game systems, from the Atari 7800 to the XBOX 360, have a version of Galaga.  It's even been available on most cell phones (I know I had a copy of the game on an old phone of mine).  On top of that, there have been a couple re-imaginings of the classic game, such as Galaga: Destination Earth on the original Playstation and Galaga Legions (along with the forthcoming DX version) on the XBOX 360.

Okay, perhaps the answer is not as simple as that.  No game would be an established part of the video gaming consciousness if it sucked.  While Galaga was not the first top down shooter, it certainly did revolutionize the genre with action never seen before in an arcade game.  Even when other shooters eventually surpassed it in technological advancement, Galaga remained a steadfast favorite of arcade goers.  Perhaps it was the waves of oncoming enemies, or the classic arcade strategy needed for scoring the most points.  Maybe it's the iconic visuals and sounds.  Personally, I just think it has that "x-factor" -- a combination of challenge and fun that is so hard to attain.  Not even its predecessor, Galaxian, nor its multiple successors could duplicate the phenomenon that was Galaga.

But there's much more about this franchise than Galaga, including many other games.  Games which I will go over in the upcoming weeks.  For now, enjoy this anniversary present: a papercraft of the classic Galaga cabinet, courtesy of WayoftheRodent.com.  Just click on the image below, print it out, and start cutting, folding, and gluing.

Until next time, keep your scores high and don't let your last ship get captured.

Classic Gaming Anniversaries

(Update: Just found out that the Dragon Quest series of rpgs is celebrating its 25th anniversary.  Holy crap, I've got a full plate commemorating all these franchises.)

This week, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, is dazzling game enthusiasts in Los Angeles.  All sorts of new games are being announced and even a few new consoles, such as the Wii U (?), are making a debut.  Then again, you know me.  I'm all about the classic gaming experience.  Fortunately, a couple of legendary franchises are celebrating their anniversaries at E3 this year with a lot of fanfare.

First off, one of my favorite arcade games turns 30.  The classic space shooter Galaga is still devouring quarters from arcade enthusiasts, even after three decades.  Namco Bandai is celebrating by releasing the Galaga series on smart phones and iOS, as well as the upcoming Galaga Legions DX on XBOX 360 Live Arcade and a new title on the 3DS that combines a 3D version of Galaga with a game featuring last year's trentagenarian: Pac Man.  There was even a World Galaga Championship at New Hampshire's American Classic Arcade Museum this past weekend.  It was part of their world famous International Classic Video Game Tournament, but was actually sponsored by Namco Bandai.  Hopefully, I can scrounge around the internet and get more details on the championship at a later time.

This year also sees 20 years with my favorite speedster, Sonic the Hedgehog.  While I usually dislike platforming games, the classic Sonic games are still some of my favorite games on the Genesis.  Though his games have not been as good as of late, Sega hopes to change that with Sonic Generations.  This new game supposedly gives you the opportunity to choose play style between modern Sonic or old skool Sonic.  Will it deliver?  We'll have to wait and see.

Of course, one of the biggest announcements has been the 25th anniversary of Nintendo's Legend of Zelda franchise.  At their press conference, Nintendo let out all the bells and whistles.  An orchestra started the conference with a medley of classic music from the legendary franchise.  Then, Shigeru Miyamoto himself announced a slew of great things for the franchise.  For instance, the Game Boy Color classic Link's Awakening DX is one of the first games available for the 3DS Virtual Console (Aww, yeah!).  Of course, there's the remastered release of Ocarina of Time for the 3DS, but now they announced the game's soundtrack for the first people who register their copy of the game on Nintendo's website.  On top of that, a new Legend of Zelda: Four Swords adventure will be available on DSiWare (for those who have a DSi or the 3DS) for FREE!  To cap it off, they're doing a worldwide tour of symphonic Legend of Zelda and there's going to be a symphonic CD available (most likely as a limited edition add-on for Skyward Sword).  There's a lot for Zelda fans to look forward to.

Later on, I'll go more in depth with each of these classic franchises and the games that helped define a generation of video gamers.  For now, I'm really sick and can only muster up enough to write this short blurb.

There was also another video game series celebrating an anniversary.  Nothing too fancy, really.  It's this small video game that a couple of people may have played.  I think it's called Halo, or something.  It turned 10.  They're doing a remastered version of the original game for XBOX 360.  No big deal.

I'll see you guys next week.

Forgotten Worlds - Dungeons & Dragons

When I was four, my older brother introduced me to something that would leave a huge impression on me.  This was something more impressive than any video game, blockbuster movie, or Saturday morning cartoon because it allowed me to tell my own stories.  Being a highly imaginative kid, I was enamored with such a phenomenon.  It was something that could have become a household name; spawning books, toys, video games, and a TV show; if not for the fact that "some people" thought it was a tool for Satanism (in my opinion, those people were the tools).  That thing was Dungeons & Dragons.

28 years later, I'm still playing tabletop rpgs.  I may have changed sides between companies a couple times, but I still enjoy rolling the dice to see if I'm drunk.  Back in the day, there was a certain mystique to Dungeons & Dragons that drew all those socially awkward dreamers, such as myself, to their friends' basements every week to become something much more fantastic.  Even though I don't play D&D anymore (I don't like 4th Edition) I still pay tribute to the pioneers of fantasy gaming.

In 1989, TSR released their second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, which resurrected the interest in tabletop rpgs.  It was only a matter of time until someone orchestrated the awesome marriage between D&D and video games.  Capcom did just that -- not once, but twice.  When I first saw the majesty that was Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom in the arcades, my jaw hit the floor.  While fantasy arcade games with rpg elements were nothing new (just look at King of Dragons, Knights of the Round, and Cadash), this brought it to a brand new level.  Never before had someone so perfectly integrated a lot of the classes, rules, and creatures of D&D into a brilliant side-scrolling brawler.  Seriously, this game was the closest one could get to "Nerdvana".  Three years later, they followed up an awesome game with an even better one:  Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara.  While I've never seen the sequel in arcades, I did get the chance to play it at an old friend's house with the Dungeons & Dragons Collection import game for the Sega Saturn.

Of course, the games weren't exactly like playing D&D.  It didn't have a "Roll a d20" button, no saving throws, no THAC0 listings.  Actually, I don't think I would play a game that was that painfully adherent to the rules (and those games were made, just for the PC).  Tower of Doom captured the feel of playing D&D without all the bookkeeping.  The game was what a D&D game should look like: seamless, fast-paced fantasy action.

Both of these games were full to the brim with classic D&D style.  The adventures take place in the classic D&D setting of Mystara, which was, pretty much, your standard fantasy campaign.  You and your friends can go around rescuing villages and defeating vile beasts.  And what would D&D be without the monsters.  Capcom scoured the Monster Manuals to give the players plenty of creatures and enemies to slay.  I couldn't believe how psyched I was to fight the Manticore or the Black Dragon for the first time.  And the Lich?  Holy crap, that was awesome (if you didn't know, liches are my favorite fantasy adversaries).

There were also multiple paths you could take throughout gameplay.  While you still played through the same storyline and ultimately end up at the same destination, your journey was dictated by the choices you made. This allowed players to play different levels over others and added to the replay value. With each choice, you explore different areas, such as a swamp, a mountain pass, or a village under attack.  Each specific level had their own unique boss, so there was always something new and exciting to fight.

Of course, with all these adventures to embark on, treasures to collect, and enemies to slay, the world has to have heroes.  Each of the characters in these games run the gamut of the standard D&D classes, but you won't find any multiclassed characters (sorry, all you Fighter/Mage/Thief fans).  Four classes were available in Tower of Doom, and that number expanded to six in Shadow Over Mystara:

First off, you have the Fighter.  Strong, reliable, good with a sword -- your typical hack 'n' slash type.  Of course, he can't use magic, but there are magic items that allow him to use spells, should he find them.  The Fighter is my usual go-to guy when it comes to fantasy roleplaying, so I typically end up playing him in the game.

While not as good with a sword as the Fighter, the Elf makes up for it with the use of arcane spells.  She is a bit faster than the fighter, but loses some reach with her blade.  This Elf is a dead ringer for Deedlit from Record of Lodoss War, who, in turn, was inspired by a roleplaying group that creator Ryo Mizuno played in.

On the other side of the coin, the Cleric mixes divine magic with mace swinging combat abilities.  His healing spells are invaluable in an arcade game, but he's got a couple of offensive spells in his repertoire, such as the ability to turn undead (into dust, that is).

Rounding out the group from the first game, the Dwarf is another combat focused class.  Like everyone else who isn't the Fighter, his weapon's reach isn't very long, but no one can hit faster than he can with his axe.  He also has a higher resistance to spells than any other character.

The enigmatic Magic-User is one of the new classes featured in Shadow Over Mystara.  He's the weakest character, physically, but his arcane abilities are unmatched.

The other character from Shadow Over Mystara is the swift and sexy Thief.  Though not as strong as the Fighter, she makes up for it with the ability to detect traps, which can save your entire party from some unnecessary damage.






With their fantastic side-scrolling action, four player cooperative ability, and the quests, characters, and monsters straight from the pages of one of the most famous tabletop rpgs, both of these games are high on my list of all-time favorite arcade games.  It's a shame that they have not seen a console release since the days of the Sega Saturn (and that was only in Japan).  These games need to be available for current gen systems.  The XBOX 360 is perfect for four player arcade action (as evidenced by Konami's X-Men).  Someone at Capcom better get to work on that, seriously.

A lot of the images, including the video below, are from this great D&D arcade shrine, which features a lot of great resources.  Check out the link here and take a look.  The guy who made it also has some other great video game shrines you should see.  Just click the link for his homepage at the bottom of the shrine.



Until next time, keep your scores high and the quarters flowing.