Simon Lethbridge – Page 6 – Obsolete Gamer

Simon Lethbridge

F-Zero X

There’s quite a lot to F-Zero X for an arcade-style racer but it would all be for nothing if the widely-criticised graphics kept gamers away. Personally though, I can’t see what all fuss is about! I asked earlier if Nintendo’s decision to sacrifice graphical detail for increased smoothness and speed was worth the risk. Well, in my opinion it was an excellent decision. The backgrounds may well be somewhat sparse but they are colourful and varied but that’s not hugely relevant anyway

Simon Lethbridge

Heavy Unit

Much like the recently-reviewed TransBot for the Master System, this game features a ship that can transform into a flying robot-type thing, and much like TransBot it’s a gimmick that really doesn’t serve any useful purpose. Here, that ability is one of a very small number of power-ups, and is basically a different weapon. Your ‘Heavy Unit’ ship looks fairly unspectacular and in fact is, in pretty much every way. Its default weapon is a puny pea-shooter and, unfortunately, power-ups with which to upgrade it are not frequent.

Simon Lethbridge

Game Gallery: Puzzle Bobble

One of my reasons for doing this is because, when I first started writing game reviews I found it really difficult to find decent quality screenshots, and half the ones I did find were tagged, which infuriates me. So, I started grabbing my own screenshots and, unlike so many other selfish tossers on the net, anyone is welcome to take my screenshots and use them for whatever they like. It would be nice if I could get a namecheck or something in return, but if not, no problem!

Simon Lethbridge

Mass Destruction

Worldwide release or not though, Mass Destruction has never been a game that has garnered much attention and it’s my mission to change that! Taking its cue from the multi-player, flag-capturing frolics of Return Fire, NMS’s game ditches the multi-player mode and adds a loose mission-structure instead, plus a story has been tacked-on too (although little mention is made of it in the game’s instruction book) which revolves around your attempts to bring down a ‘fanatical tyrant’ and his army known as ‘The Republican Army’.

Simon Lethbridge

Game Gallery: Arkanoid

As with many games of its time, Arkanoid was born in the arcades, but the version I spent by far the most time playing is this fine conversion for the Speccy. It doesn’t look quite as nice, as you might expect, but it’s got it where it counts. All stages and features from its arcade parent have been squeezed into the 48k of memory and mercifully it’s even a little easier, awarding the player with four lives from the start rather than two. Having said that, I still doubt that I could’ve finished this game without the aid of the ‘PBRAIN’ cheat. So, thanks to that splendid bit of foresight by the programmers, I can present all 33 rounds of Arkanoid!

Simon Lethbridge

Top Five PlayStation: Racing Games

I’ve always been of the opinion that fancy graphics are far less important than a well-designed game. I think my continued love or retro games and enduring disdain for modern gaming is evidence enough of this, but there’s always been one exception – driving/racing games. Try as they might, developers in the 80’s and early 90’s were rarely able to fashion both a playable and convincing into-the-screen racer outside of the arcades, and I can probably count on the fingers of one hand how many I personally liked.

Simon Lethbridge

Deviants

In order to accomplish your mission, you must locate and arm each bomb whilst avoiding or shooting the green, zombie- like creatures (presumably the Deviants themselves) wandering around, going about their dastardly business. The rapid- fire assault rifle-type gun you’re equipped with takes them out within a few shots (which sees them crumble to the floor in a pile of dust) but it has a finite supply of ammo, so keep an eye out for the extra ammo icons dotted around here and there.

Simon Lethbridge

Top Five SNES Two-Player Games

It can’t be a list of the best two-player games without a Bomberman game included! Well, except for the Master System list as that console doesn’t have a Bomberman game. Poor old Master System. This was the first game in this great series that I played and it’s still one of my favourites. Although they’re not to everyone’s tastes,

Simon Lethbridge

Top Five 3DO Games

The poor old 3DO was hardly a run away success, was it? It was released during a difficult period. Change was coming, but not quite ready to be embraced by the gaming public. The fact that it cost as much as a car didn’t help matters either, of course! Consequently it doesn’t have the biggest of software libraries. With this in mind, instead of doing a genre-based Top Five for some of its games, I have little choice but to simply select the five best games on the system from all genres.

Simon Lethbridge

F-Zero Grand Prix 2

As F-Zero fans will already be well aware, the first game consisted of fifteen courses divided into three leagues – Knight, Queen, and King. F-Zero 2 features a new league – the Ace League – which features five new courses. Some are based on courses from the first game (such as Mute City IV, Big Blue II, Silence II) but with new course layouts, whilst the other two (Sand Storm I & II) are seemingly based on the Sand Ocean stage from the first game, thematically, but are completely new.

Simon Lethbridge

Aero Fighters

Like most of the Psikyo games that followed, Aero Fighters is a vertical scroller, on this occasion a military-based one. Before play begins you are given the option of choosing from four pilots, each representing a different country, and each possessing a different attitude in their outbursts in the between-level cut-scenes. The US pilot is predictably cocky (“I’ll fly anywhere at anytime!”), the Japanese one is all business…

Simon Lethbridge

Top Five MegaDrive Shmups

This underrated gem was a pretty early release for the MD but still ranks among its best coin-op conversions. It doesn’t have the graphical tricks of some games (see below!), but it is one of the most polished, balanced shooters I’ve ever played. It’s true that it’s somewhat unforgiving (it’s basically a one-life game) and doesn’t really have much in the way of power-ups, but it’s hard to complain when the game is still so good! Varied levels, a rocking soundtrack, a well-graded dificulty curve, and perfect collision detection make this one of the best!

Simon Lethbridge

Atomic Runner

The levels are set over a diverse range of landscapes and are one of the most appealing aspects of this game. They are titled Atomic Laboratory, Mutant Plant Zone, Mayan Jungle, Egyptian Desert, Treasure Room, Siberian Snowland, and New York, and all look fantastic – this is among the prettiest run ‘n’ gunners I’ve played with regards to the backgrounds and scenery graphics, and the sprites, weapons, etc, aren’t half bad either.

Simon Lethbridge

Eric and the Floaters

I personally hadn’t even heard of it until recently and I’m a big fan of the series, but yes, this is the first ever Bomberman game! However, rather than taking control of White Bomber, or indeed a bomberman of any colour, you must take control of Eric, an explorer attempting to plunder treasures from ancient underground caverns. At least, that’s the story with regards to this version, the only one to find a release outside of Japan.

Simon Lethbridge

Cobra Triangle

Graphically, Cobra Triangle is fairly average in my view. Granted, I have little to compare it to from personal experience but things look pretty basic here. Backgrounds are largely featureless and pretty repetitive, although both they and the water do change colour every few missions (the ice level looks nice). The sprites are pretty nicely drawn, though a bit small, and their animation is somewhat lacking. They all look similar from what I’ve seen too,

Simon Lethbridge

Bubble Bobble

One of this game’s many memorable points is that it jointly holds the record with its own sequel as one of the most fruit laden game ever (this is a good thing)! Items are spilled on a platform somewhere in the level every time an enemy is vanquished and other items appear seemingly out of nowhere now and then. There is an enormous amount of them to be found, some of which are very useful, particularly the umbrella which skips several levels, and there are power-ups and various kinds of screen-clearing smart bombs too.

Sega Master System

Simon Lethbridge

Penguin Land

Luckily, with his eggs trapped on apparently such a hostile planet, Overbite is free to walk and jump around the rounds to his hearts content. A vast majority of the blocks are blue ice blocks. Overbite can break the ice blocks beneath him by pecking them and the egg can then be pushed through the gap. Be careful though – the egg can’t fall more than three blocks downwards without breaking, so you’ll have to take some time to consider which blocks to break.