Obsolete Gamer

Month: February 2011

Solar Struggle - Survival Box
Interviews
J.A. Laraque

The Interview: Andreas Heldt: Solar Struggle

We’ve always been attached to space-themed video games. As we saw the “Solar Struggle” project, which was maintained by one man, we almost instantly decided that we had to support the game! Ever since did we extended the game and also introduced the “Skirmish” mode, which is the main element of the new “Solar Struggle: Survival”. We just weren’t happy with the original implementation of the skirmish mode and felt that the players wanted a more arcade-style game.

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SNES
Simon Lethbridge

F-Zero

Obviously the Grand Prix mode forms the bulk of what F-Zero has to offer but it’s not the full extent. Also available is a Practise mode, which allows you to do just that on seven courses from the various leagues against a chosen opponent, or no opponent at all (making it a time-trial mode, essentially). One problem with many racing games in my experience is the difficulty curve. Happily, it’s nigh-on perfectly pitched here. Sure, this can be a pretty frustrating game on occasion, but it’s also one that rewards perseverance.

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Sonic 2 - Gameplay Screeenshot 1
Sega Genesis
Luis Zena

Sonic 2

This week we have a true classic of the Sega ages! Sonic 2 defined the way we looked at sonic games. This is probably the best sonic for the Genesis (Sonic 3 comes real close) because of how many memories we had with it. For me, it was the first Genesis game I ever played, in fact, it was the first time I ever saw the Genesis and it was all thanks to the popularity of this franchise. The game is breath taking from beginning to end with some of the best level design in any Sonic game.

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Explodermon Screenshot
Interviews
J.A. Laraque

The Interview: Jonathan Biddle: Curve Studios

I think it’s been used just plenty! There’s definitely been a resurgence in the classic platformer in recent years. If we look at remakes or retro revivals such as Bionic Commando Rearmed, Rocket Knight, Mega Man 9 and 10 there’s a trend to bring back exactly those kinds of games experiences. Mario is still around in his classic 2D form as recently as last year in New Super Mario Bros Wii, Contra was recently released on the Wii, Hard Corps Uprising is a classic game in the same vein, the new Rush N Attack also leans heavily on the retro style.

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Cataclysm
Editorials
Cyrus Foroughi

Cataclysm: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

For the first time ever, mages seem to be underpowered unless you like jumping around spamming ice lance all day! Maybe underpowered isn’t the write word, but they do seem to have a nice big target on their back. Melee teams seem to run a train on them all day and since all the healers have dispel and frost armor is not nearly as useful as it was, they appear to be in a dire situation.

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Editorials
Simon Lethbridge

Top Five Saturn Fighting Games

After revitalising the fighting game genre with Street Fighter 2, the mid-90’s saw a huge influx of titles. The 16-bit consoles got a lot of good (and not so good) ones and this continued with the 32-bit systems with the added bonus of some fancy new 3D ones too. Many franchises popular today were born during this period, with the Saturn as well as the PlayStation getting some top titles. Given the unfortunate lack of success for the Saturn outside its native territory, many of its best games never left Japan including a lot of fighting games. Consequently there’s still a lot I haven’t played, but of the ones I have played, these are my favourites:

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Worms Armageddon Dreamcast
Editorials
Simon Lethbridge

My Favourite Games – Part 3

Back in my Sega fanboy days, I used to love it when a game like this came along. It would give me more ammunition to use against those who would seek to besmirch the good Sega name, and would almost always overshadow similar efforts on other machines (at least until the SNES came along!). I can fondly recall many arguments with my Amiga fanboy friend at college. Try as he might, he could never convince me that Project X was a patch on this game! I didn’t have to argue hard either. Featuring lush graphics, an awesome rocking soundtrack, kick-ass weaponry, big bosses, and eight varied levels (including the awesome lava stage, pictured), there’s not really much more a shoot ’em up fan could ask for here.

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Chase HQ
Arcade Games
Simon Lethbridge

Chase HQ review

Before the days of polygons, it was pretty rare to find a decent driving game. Even in the arcades they were pretty rare. If you asked any gamers around my age to name their favourite, most would probably say OutRun, and with good reason – it was a revolutionary game that made a huge impact. There was a few other good examples from around that time as well though, and one was Chase HQ.

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 - NES Gameplay Screenshot
NES
Luis Zena

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2

This game is a lot of fun either way especially for TMNT fans. You get to fight your old buddies from the cartoon series like Bebop, Baxter, and some polar bear that froze New York City……yeah all of them! The game does get a little boring after killing off over five hundred foot soldiers but the atmosphere and the attempt to make the game feel like the arcade game(which rocks) keeps it interesting.

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