Diogmites

This is really cool, though i have to say that i’ve always loved the look of dithered sprites.

All the information here is new to me and interesting.
Also, all the art here: the pencils, the cg and the illustrations are grand
If this game was accessible, i would check it out.
As always, a great article with interesting people and intriguing words!

Avarice wins the day, yet again.

Excellent! A lovely looking shmup i’ll be grabbing on Steam when it hits.

There’s a successor to the throne…

The pixel art looks smashing and 8-bit Final Fantasy is indeed heavily invoked.
Gotta check out that demo!

This is sweet. It can be good to be in a relationship with another gamer.

@sdelfin Cool to hear you’ve heard of it! I hope you get a chance to check it out sometime. Me and this dude who owned a ps1 used to rent it on weekends. I mainly recall small arenas and tense matches with lots of errant limbs and heads accompanied by sprays of pixelated blood. I think i only ever played the first game.

I’m a fan of Toriyama’s art, but i never played Tobal número uno. I’ve heard it was excellent , but never went out of my way to find it, and so it is a missing entry in my rather large list of fighters played.
If it had been a Chrono Trigger themed game, i would have scoured every known corner of the galaxy until i had experienced it.
Seichi Ishii is an incredibly talented man and his work impressive, even though the projects of his i’ve played didn’t agree with me.

I know it’s a different dev, but does anyone remember Bushido Blade? It was a semi-realistic weapons-based fighting game published by Square and Sony. Badass.

I bought it and love it. So did my partner. But there is a game-ending glitch when you read a Wild Magic Scroll. They need to patch this.
I had my best game yet and never got to finish or post to the leaderboards because of this glitch.
It’s not even a glitch or a bug really, PixelGames UK just didn’t include a way to interact with the scroll so it’s just an oversight that ruins the game.
Like Rogue isn’t hard enough as is.

Samurai Spirits Bushido Retsuden is a game that i pined to play back in the day, and i would be down to give almost any modern Samurai Spirits game, outside of its native genre, a try.

I never got into Art of Fighting though i like the characters and big sprites.

If SNK wants to go buck-wild with sequels, why not give some of those old Alpha Denshi titles some love. I want another Crossed Swords badly. And how about we put that sequel to Magician Lord back on the table, and dare i say it… World Heroes.

Caught this announcement while watching EVO, after the indomitable Xiaohai took the KoF XV crown. I am very excited for this remastered port, as i dig this game, though it took me some time to see its merits.

Excellent! I never played the original, just Angband, so i am excited to visit the source.
Thanks for the heads up!
(Been playing on IronRogue mode and it’s a ton of fun. Love that it has leaderboards)

@vnavarro Thank you for the clarifications and post. I wasn’t really sure what to comment, as the problems your profession currently face confound me. I read the article and the quote about your students being oversaturated with media, but there was so much to digest, i may have lost my way a bit by the end.
I didn’t mean to suggest that you yourself weren’t interesting, i just offered some general advice for lack of anything better to say about an issue i find perplexing.
One thing that really struck me was the revelation that essays are now perhaps eschewed in modern classrooms because of ChatGPT.
I imagine it’s nice to not have to grade essays, but perhaps there was a convenience to having students demonstrate their knowledge by simply writing it down and handing it in.
Also, it’s a bummer about the issue of legality and the games educators clearly need access to. I recall one of John’s earlier articles about that , and i sympathize with your struggles and wish you the best.
Anyways, i hope i did not offend you with my casual, ignorant advice and if i did, that this message alleviates some of the burn. Apologies!

@Sketcz Don’t sweat it! I got a couple wrong i should have gotten right too. It was a long quiz!

@Daniel36 Thank you! It is good to read from an educator that my advice is sound.

There is a lot here that provokes contemplation, and the article provides an excellent porthole with which to view a world mostly alien to me: that of the modern educator.
And yes, to a member of the older generations, the reticence of these students to play games (in school!!!)outside of their offensively limited palate, and their lack of interest in the foundations of gaming, does seem as if this all takes place in some horrific alternate reality.
Although i am merely an outsider, bereft of the experience and knowledge to those i would offer advice to, and i apologize for the inherent arrogance, but to any mentor or educator i say this: make yourself interesting to your students first. This will make educating them much easier.
Myself, i don’t think i would have the temperament to contend with the challenges these teachers face. I love Minecraft, and while one can trace its open world and crafting to much older games, i would have dowsed any student with a bucket of cold water and told them to get the hell out of my class for suggesting it as a retro game, fit to be discussed at length in a class about the origins and lineages of our hobby.
Minecraft and Fortnight have the power of being in the zeitgeist, and the feeling of camaraderie and the commercialism that comes with that, makes older games a rather withered carrot to dangle apparently, which is a bummer.
My nephew and his pals all consider themselves gamers, and as children, they played anything. As teens, they played Call of Duty, with the occasional dalliance. And as young adults, they play Fortnight exclusively.

Excellent article and thank you!

I have room for improvement.
Also, the Panasonic Q is a Gamecube, as stated sooooo…
8.5 is my score.
This was fun, and thank you!

@Sketcz You’re welcome. I checked back and noticed you made the correction with no reply, and so i deleted my own correction reply. I thought it would be our secret, though i should have known there was an extensive reply incoming and left it lol.

I actually was really into Japanese history long ago, for a time, and my two main foci were the Pacific theatre in WW2 and also Tokugawa Ieyesu’s reign, as well as the resulting period. Interesting stuff.
Commodore Perry was, in my limited estimation, an ass, as drunk on ideas of manifest destiny as he was on the grog that fatally scarred his liver.
I imagine his blowhard tactics did little for the already failing health of the then-current Tokugawa, Ieyoshi, who died of heart failure a month after Perry’s initial visit. Ieyoshi was a virile man who sired a total of 24 children, only one of which survived past the age of 20. This is telling of the hardships Japan was facing at the time, particularly the Great Tenpo Famine, whose wake saw governmental reform and lean times.

I’ve never heard of “Galapagos Syndrome”, and knowing what i do of the Galapagos Islands as well as Japan, the phrase seems an apt title for numerous possible examples of ‘the otherness’ of the Japanese, as you describe it. Interesting that it pertains to cell phone and PC technology and i thank you for sharing!

I did not take your comments as xenophobic. My current partner is half-Japanese, her mother and family are from there, so along with that, my reading of some Japanese history, watching of films and playing of games, has granted me some perspective on them, though without actually having ever visited (yet) , i rely on others to strengthen the veracity of that perspective.
Thank you for the suggested interviews and food for thought!

@Andee Your memory serves! I just checked DS and Momentum is turned on by default and there are two other options, “From the Cockpit”, which is tank controls, and “From Above” which is digital.
I don’t have access to JS at the moment.

@Andee I don’t know that i ever turned inertia off, in fact, i’m not even sure if i knew it was an option. Might have to bust that game out again. Strafing with momentum is a good feeling.
Game looks to be a worthy successor i agree!

The unity here is awesome and the government so supportive… it’s sad the story in the UK is one of contrast to the Swiss.
Also, the Smaky series sounds lit!
Man, if i would have had a Pac Man level editor…
Great article, with interesting gaming history, and spotlighting a sterling example of taking steps to preserve it.
Now excuse me, i have a rabbit hole to explore by the name of Titor…

I checked the artist’s thread back on NL last night before falling asleep and clapped eyes on this box.
As i gazed upon it in wonder, i muttered an oath in testament to Zuljaras’ skill.
He’s always working on something, and it’s always something cool.

@Sketcz You’re welcome and thank you for the well wishes!

@Sketcz I actually replied with an explanation, then realised it begged more questions than it answered, and was way too long, so i deleted that and offered the solution you read.
Basically, i’m obsessive about my writing, and right now that’s exacerbated by my compromised vision. I haven’t been seeing well and had eye surgery this past week and i make a lot of mistakes, not only with spelling, but my reading comprehension has also taken a hit, as it’s quite uncomfortable to stare at a screen and read and write for any length of time. I also can’t focus on more than three words at a time. My vision will improve as the days pass, and in a month it should be stable enough for me to get a prescription for spectacles.
I can still game well. I have been doing it long enough, so i know what points to look at on the screen. And there is muscle memory. Sorry for the digression.
But without all that, i usually hate what i write shortly after typing it, and while i do edit, sometimes i just scrap the whole thing.

Damn. What a job to inherit! Abraham Kogan’s story, his thoughts before, during, and after all this, as well as his account of his time at Taito Brazil would be such an interesting read … I hope his life improved spectacularly as it seems like he was a nice dude.
Anyways, great article and thank you!

@Sketcz i copied most of it from my liked comments, so here it is. I delete a lot of comments.

@KGRAMR I see now it even reads that way. Thanks for the correction and extra info!
Excuse:I can’t see well for the moment, so reading/writing is a bit of a challenge.

Didn’t know Shigatake works for Vanillaware! It stands to reason, given his considerable talent. Love that old art of his! It’s awesome that Kazuyuki Nakashima kicked in some sweet DBR fanart!
Anyways , Devil Blade Reboot is an incredible shmup. Thanks for the cool follow up!

Note- i played retro mode (cuz Inferno is scary)today and really appreciate what Shigatake did with the reboot.

It’s sad an academic affair like this is apparently considered anathema by almost all of game’s media.
I really dig game’s history and i will make time to read any coverage on what was clearly a stimulating and awesome conference.
Thanks for covering this and i look forward to more!

I have been playing some unusually long (and amazing) shmups this year, so 6 levels sounds damn comfy right now.
Ooooh 2d rotating and scaling sprites…
I’ll probably pick this up soon.
Thanks for the review!

I love the smell of Milk Jet Battle in the morning.

@KitsuneNight I was always into transformers, but a friend had a handful of go bots, including both leaders.. cykill and leader 1? I recall reading a comic, but maybe that is a false memory…
I have history with Tonka as well, so it’s all interesting to read!
Sucks Hasbro is seemingly either unaware or doesn’t care about the GoBots brand.
Thanks again!

@KitsuneNight I liked Beast Wars and didn’t know there was a fighting game on the N64(a console i am familiar with) & PS1.
Thanks for bringing Duel Fight Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle(lol) to my attention. Glorious title.
So Hasbro would still need to license GoBot character designs from Bandai maybe?
I didn’t know Hasbro bought Tonka so long ago.
Thanks for the info and links!

I would play this.

I wish i could replicate the transforming noise with my vocals.
As kids, my clique adopted several methods of vocalizing transformers transforming.
The most common method, and one i first heard, was to use a soft “ch” sound repeatedly and in quick succession. And shortly after, hard “ch”s were used employing the same technique.
Later, a few of the more eccentric members of our crew, adopted the method of trapping air in the side of one cheek and then slowly releasing it through the same side of marginally pursed lips to create a vibrating sound. Similar to the sound of running one’s fingers along a comb’s plastic teeth, though it should be mentioned that this method was also and often used to mimic the sounds of human flatulence. When using fart noises as a simulacrum for transforming , one would vary the pitch and speed of the “farts” to more closely replicate the variance the show’s titular robots produced when changing. But, i was always a die-hard soft “ch”er.

Moving past this undeniably important digression, it is weird we have never gotten a Transformers fighting game or a GoBots vs Transformers (Machine Robo vs. Diaclone?) mashup fighter.

Anyways, Diepod looks to be doing great work here!

It’s good the Williams’ finally found a project they are comfortable with, and it looks like things are well underway.
I look forward to seeing the results!

Wishlisted on sight! This is an exciting prospect and it looks slick.

Desert Strike, though not an in-cockpit sim, had a feel of realism to me. The weight of the chopper was conveyed so well through how the controls handled, and the sounds it produced, say when one smacked the side of the building. That hum of rotor blades was constant.
According to a retro gamer interview, Designer Mike Posehn said Trip thought rescuing people in Choplifter “felt cool” and that’s how he got the project. It was inspired by the civil war in Lebanon, but during development the Gulf War broke out and media at the time connected it to that.

Anyways, thanks for spotlighting this, Damien!

I wouldn’t mind a Starfox collection on Switch.

I never watched this movie in theatres, mainly because i loathed The Wonder Years, so i saw it as an adult.
Not that bad really, all things considered. It was better than Joysticks.
Maybe.

@Sketcz When researching, Fenrir and MODE were the two most recommended for Saturn games and i appreciate the Fenrir recommendation. I will check it out further.

I’ll avoid the PITA rhea lol
Thanks for your help!

@Sketcz I just checked some price listings for Taromaru and nearly filled my drawers.
Oof. Sin and Punishment is cool as heck, but i can indeed imagine your experience in that mountain hamlet is one not easily forgotten or reconciled!
I’ve had a few missed opportunities and let some things slip through my fingers.
I don’t have an ODE but am researching. Terraonion has a MODE up for preorder that looks nice.
I’ll check out emulation. I haven’t been current on the scene for well over a decade, and hopefully there’s some nice options for me.
Thanks for the info, anecdote and bringing Shinrei Jusatsu Taromaru to my attention. It will be played!

I’ll be checking this out when i get to my PC. Thanks for the heads up!

I had a cousin who was really into the King’s Quest games and while his family lived a great distance from mine, we did visit occasionally and one of my favorite memories is of playing those early games on his computer.
He also had a Black Cauldron game that i believe Roberta worked on with Al Lowe.
I was quite young and we would usually get hopelessly stuck, but the fantasy aesthetic and fun writing always saw to it that we had a blast.
I did play King’s Quest: Mask of Eternity, and if i recall correctly, it didn’t blow my socks off, but i enjoyed playing through another of Roberta’s games.
I would totally be down for playing another King’s Quest (or whatever) game designed by Roberta.

That thing is beautiful to me.

@Sketcz I played Alisia Dragoon for the first time on one of the minis and it was a standout for me.
While i have never played Shinrei Jusatsu Taromaru, from the screenshots i just glanced at, i can tell you that Alisia is the better game. Anime chick with monster pets trumps Samurai battling demons every day. Though now that the words have left my fingertips, i actually feel it might be a draw.
Also, in the wiki i checked, it quotes a reviewer who compared it to Mystic Defender, which is another game i love, though i think the general consensus is that it is “ok”. Have you played that one? Apparently it is the sequel to a game called Spellcaster on the Master system.
Reflecting on these comparisons, i feel i’d really like Taromaru.
As i think on the Saturn more, i feel it might have made that era a little sunnier for me, as i was a staunch defender of 2d graphics at the time(now either works for me) and i never loved the ps1 or the N64(which i knew quite well). I’d say that era was my least favorite in gaming. Maybe the Saturn would have changed that, as i was a big shmup and fighting game fan as well as other genres.
Also, i read up on that Dragon Force game and it seems awesome.
I enjoy reading about your love for the system!

I’ve officially stopped calling the Saturn a failure, and now refer to it as a bronze medalist.
I’m converted (really!), but i need to get my hands on these games.
And i don’t like to work to set up my games anymore , so i need them to come in as convenient a package as possible. A Saturn mini is what i need!
I want to play the game that was named after our friend Bulkslash. Hey, was Code of Princess inspired by Crown Princess? They are like Guardian Heroes games, right? I’ve probably played most of the fighting games and shooters… though i need more Panzer Dragoon…
Hey, what- wtf- is that an Evangelion game!?

Of all these mags, the only one i’ve seen on the list in the U.S. is Retro Gamer, and i’m surprised to see it so low.. it’s one if the best, if not the best gaming mag i’ve ever read and i pick one up whenever i get the chance.
But i’ve never read any of the others so i can only wonder, and not complain.
In the US in the 80s there was a line of toy cars called Mean Machines and the title reminds of those.

@sdelfin I saw the game in magazines too, and then was able to rent it along with the Genesis, and had already beaten the game when i received the system for xmas.
I still played through it repeatedly though, but before i had made my decision to get the Genesis, i told myself i had to find another game that i wanted to play as badly, and that was Climax’s Shining in the Darkness.
As you mention, Spidey felt great to control and i agree. In particular, i thought they nailed the web-slinging movement of his, and sticking to walls was simple and intuitive.
I think i figured out that it was possible to slow M.J.’s descent by accident, but it’s possible i had read it in a magazine.
I liked the photography aspect too, though it was essentially just taking screenshots of enemies for in-game cash.
It would be great if there was a way to get the game commercially, but i imagine the licensing is all jacked up.
Sonic i didn’t even try(even though it was bundled with the system) until i had gotten tired of going through Shining and Spider Man , but when i did, i fell in love with it too.

Glad to read about your experiences with it and good to know i’m not the only fan!

The Spider Man game Jon worked on was why i got a Genesis. I was a comic fan back then and the game’s art style reminded me of Larsen’s run. I love that game still.
R.I.P. Jon Miller.

@RetroGames An epic, atmospheric piece! I always liked Birth of The People, which i think was the standard peaceful, over-world map music(not to mention the song in the sample video).
I think the last stage track was another fave.

For me, Yuzo Koshiro’s Actraiser music stands along stuff like Super Metroid , Technosoft’s stuff, Streets of Rage 2 and FF6 and Chrono Trigger as the cream of-the-crop of 16-bit era tunes.

@Damo Herzog Zwei is my favorite Genesis/MegaDrive game, and the time i’ve spent in the menu screen listening to greats like that catchy opening, Jagd Flieger, and others such as Slight of Hand, Sniper and The Super Fighter Invigorated Us probably equals the time i’ve spent playing it. It’s masterful stuff!