gauntlet

Arcade Games

Gauntlet

There are six types of enemy altogether – Grunts, Ghosts, Demons, Sorcerers, Lobbers, and Death. All of them except Death are created endlessly by generators placed all around the maze-like stages which have three strength levels with each monster they create being of the same level. The generators can be destroyed in the same way as the monsters they produce – either by shooting or fighting them one at a time or by collecting potions and using magic which clears some or most enemies on screen in one go.

Read More
Arcade Games

Midway Arcade Origins

Thankfully I was able to get a lot of enjoyment out a few of the included offerings. Joust and Joust 2 hold up extremely well, as do Satan’s Hollow, Robotron 2084, Spy Hunter, Rampage, and both Gauntlet games (just don’t shoot the food!). Two titles I’d never played before, Wizard of Wor and Bubbles, ended up being my favorites. Smash TV and its sequel Total Carnage also play well with a modern controller, and they still serve as a reminder that most of these games were simply designed to get one more quarter out of the pocket of your Kangaroos. This is certainly a staunch contrast from the “save anywhere, unlimited lives” mentality that permeates game design today.

Read More
Arcade Games

Crime Fighters

I also like the United Nations of bad guys in Crime Fighters. You had greasers which were white guys that looked like a 60’s gang, a dock worker that was either a huge black or white guy, the Kung Fu thug which was a Chinese guy and the best enemy name ever, Hispanic, seriously, the enemy name was just called, Hispanic and they wore tank tops and always used a knife. I know my Miami readers would get a kick out of that.

Read More
Editorials

Memories of Gaming: II

The only game of note here is After Burner Climax, which admittedly is a fantastic game worthy of the great name, but it seems lonely amidst all the crappy novelty machines. Anyway, from the sad present back to happy memories while I remember some of my favourite arcades games (aside from the already-covered-OutRun) from those awesome trips to Hayling with Stu and his family (and a belated thanks to you, mate!) …

Read More
Blog

Motivational Monday: Game Food

Tis a cold night it was in the belly of the dark ones castle. Deep within was the chilling winds of evil and the stench of death surrounding my very being. Why or why did I wear my dress on this adventure? Thank goodness the count did not know of my paralyzing fear of the dark or he might not have setup all these lovely candles for me, vanilla scented if I smell correctly. As the night went on despair came over me. I thought of giving up and then I saw it, under the steps next to some dead rats. The Lord of Death did care, he remembered my birthday!

Read More
Interviews

Interview – CoLD SToRAGE (Tim Wright)

I’ve done a lot of fast paced racing or shooting games. Recently I’ve had the chance to write some music for younger children’s games, so that was fun. I’d love to write music for a horror game, something really dark and terrifying. It’s not a genre I’ve really had much to do with, so I think I’d really love the challenge of writing a score that gives people an adrenalin rush (like the Wipeout tracks) but for a different reason.

Read More