What I’m Playing Right Now #16

November 2, 2024 by 4 Comments

November is here, and the start of one of the busiest seasons for games I’m dying to play I’ve ever had since starting this blog. The lineup for Atari 50’s second DLC pack has been announced. I don’t want to say I’m disappointed in it, but I was really hoping for more never-before-ported arcade games. It’s mostly Mattel-developed Atari 2600 games that likely offer a hint of what the NEXT Gold Master Series release will be. Hopefully they get some licenses if Intellivision is up next after Tetris, and all indications are that it will be. While sports leagues are out of the question, stuff like He-Man, Dungeons & Dragons, and Kool-Aid Man don’t belong as post-review bonuses. Anyway, here’s what’s included. Unless otherwise stated, everything is for the Atari 2600.

  • Air Raiders
  • Antbear (Never Released Prototype)
  • Armor Ambush
  • Astroblast
  • Frogs & Flies
  • International Soccer
  • Dark Cavern
  • Star Strike
  • Super Challenge Baseball
  • Super Challenge Football
  • Swordfight (Never Released Prototype)
  • Sea Battle (Never Released Prototype)
  • Tower of Mystery (Never Released Prototype)
  • Video Pinball
  • Basketball
  • Hardball (Atari 8-Bit PC)
  • Final Legacy (Atari 5200, Never Released Prototype)
  • Xari Arena (Atari 8-bit)
  • Desert Falcon (Atari 7800)

Surely the Kool-Aid people and Atari can come to some kind of a deal, because I actually gave the 2600 Kool-Aid Man a YES! in The Games They Couldn’t Include Part Two. Tower of Mystery is the most exciting of the new games. To put it in perspective, I don’t even have the ROM for it. This is a NEWLY DUMPED ROM that started development as a port of Intellivision’s Advanced Dungeons & Dragons series. There’s something about newly discovered/finished prototypes from long before I was born finally coming out that puts a tear in my eye. The other big announcement is Tetris Forever added two more games: two completely different MS-DOS versions of Tetris. A few people have asked if I plan on ranking the games included. I am not. I think the YES!/NO! system will be good enough. Not that I think “Tetris is Tetris” because that’s lazy, but I think it’s just plain unfair to compare a primitive PC version to an SNES version. I also don’t plan on reviewing the Arcade Archives version of Tetris. Besides the bonus reviews, this will be enough Tetris to last me into the 2030s. So, what AM I playing?

Contra III - The Alien Wars (USA)-241101-234253

Yea yea, I’m supposed to be playing Contra Force, and I am, but this is the one everyone wants a review of. This and Hard Corps will give me a complete review of every Contra Anniversary game, and that’s my current priority. But, this is just treading water until the big November games hit. And Saturday will be “Family Day.” Sasha has no Taekwondo class today, so we’re going to be dueling all day at Camp Bloodbrook for Pinball M. And I get to stay up all night grinding the buffs for Arcade mode. Joy. I can say 100% for sure that the Pinball M version has none of the problems that the Pinball FX version has. We’re all enjoying what we’ve played so far, but the time to SERIOUSLY play it and try to defeat each-other is today. I’m hoping to at least have the Vice Family scores up by Sunday in an update to the Pinball M review.

This is downloaded onto my Switch. From Freakzone, creator of The Angry Video Game Nerd games that I hold in much esteem. Sam, you made me roll my eyes within the first ten seconds of the game. You’re going to gaming hell, my friend. By the way, I’ve never seen the movie and I’m not going to watch it before I play this. So uh, this will be interesting.

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What I’m Playing Right Now #15 – with bonus Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2600 Review!

October 31, 2024 by Leave a comment

So, I really wanted a bigger game than Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge up today, and if I do manage to get Dracula X up for Halloween THE DAY and not the time frame, I’ll be cutting it close. This will be the final Castlevania game I do in 2024. It’s telling how prolific the series is that I’m not even close to running out of Castlevania games on classic platforms for future Halloweens. By the way, I’m also late when it comes to Camp Bloodbrook. Our review will be added to the Pinball M guide within the next week. We just haven’t had a chance for the whole family to sit down with it.

So, what AM I playing?

Dracula X is not well loved and, from what I can gather, is considered both a poor remake of Rondo of Blood AND a massive step backwards from Super Castlevania IV. I get the contemporary hate for it, but time has only been kind to Dracula X. No longer bound by any comparison to any other Castlevania, it really does stand tall on its own. And I also get how someone who is a big fan of previous Castlevanias could not love it. That review is NEXT at IGC, unless you count this bonus review of Texas Chainsaw Massacre for the Atari 2600! Happy Halloween!

Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Platform: Atari 2600
Year: 1983
Designed by Ed Salvo
Published by Wizard Video Games

Hell, the chainsaw looks more pornographic than the actual Atari pornographic games.

After playing the historically maligned but actually not THAT bad Halloween in The Games They Couldn’t Include – Part Two, I figured maybe history did Texas Chainsaw Massacre dirty too. It didn’t. While I ultimately didn’t give Halloween a YES!, it was clearly a cut above most Atari games and even had an eeriness to it that nobody should still have expected in the 2020s. It felt true to the movie, in a way few Atari 2600 games manage to pull off. Wait.. I am sure I wanted to give it a NO!, right? It’d be helpful to me, dear reader, if you just imagined me looking up at the ceiling in solemn contemplation right now. Are you doing it? No you’re not. I can wait all day. Okay, good. Yea, no, Michael Myers was too easy to learn to cheese and it took the guts right out of the game. BUT, the premise was solid. You can’t say that about Chainsaw. Here, you play as the villain. Why they would do this is beyond me. If you’re the killer, there’s no tension. The horror element is gone. So is basically any gameplay. You walk back and forth, avoiding anything on the screen while you chainsaw people. There’s no gore. They just turn upside-down. When you run out of gas, you lose a life. You get extra gas every 5,000 points. This barely qualifies as a game at all. It doesn’t even have novelty value. It’s like the most basic, lazy idea. The sh*t thing is, I know Ed Salvo was better than this, but this was flawed from the start.
Verdict: NO!

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What I’m Playing Right Now #14

October 31, 2024 by Leave a comment

4 to 1. I’d say it wasn’t the World Series everyone was hoping for, but as far as gentleman’s sweeps go, that was pretty f’n amazing. The first walk-off grand slam in World Series history to start it. A historic comeback to end it. A collapse so unfathomable that it’s literally never happened to that degree in any of the previous 118 World Series that came before it. Ouch. Plus, two of the three games in between were really great and the one blow-out featured two douchebags losing their Game 5 tickets to a kid with cancer who WAS going to be part of a special event earlier this year, except he became so sick he couldn’t participate. Now, because someone’s brain shut off and they tried to literally rip a potentially-still-in-play ball out of a player’s glove, that kid got prime seats at the World Series! What’s not to love? Well, besides the cancer. It’s too bad the kid wasn’t at Game Four. It sucks that a kid who was probably a HUGE Yankees fan had to witness.. that.

“START THE PARTY LOS ANGELES! YOUR DODGERS HAVE WON THE WORLD SERIES!” is a great call, though. California domination, baby! So, what AM I playing?

Sigh.

Folks, I really wanted to have Vampire Killer, the MSX version of Castlevania that’s so different and weird up today for Halloween. It’s probably not happening. It’s one of those games that’s so putrid that I really don’t want to play it. I hate that it’s as bad as it is, because this has some amazing ideas. Ideas that have legs. Ideas that I want to see someone try again. I love that the concept of doors is actually important this time around. That it’s not merely a point where you restart if you lose a life. I like that there’s hidden keys that open the doors, and the keys are ACTUALLY HIDDEN and require exploration. I quickly ditched the StrategyWiki page for this because I wanted to enjoy the exploration aspect. Also, the sub-weapons AIN’T sub-weapons this time. They’re YOUR weapon. The axe now works like a short boomerang, while the boomerang is.. well, still a boomerang, BUT it goes further (but does less damage). There’s shops and everything on this. It’s a one off, totally original style of game that uses Castlevania as the foundation for something that was never attempted afterward.

And it’s TERRIBLE.

This is the first silver key, all of which are hidden instead of just laying around. There’s other keys that open treasure chests, but they won’t open the door.

The collision detection, at least with the candles, is miserable. The enemies are all mostly pretty fast, and sometimes you can enter a room and immediately take damage. There’s also screen-wrapping, which is used in the puzzle design sometimes. There’s some truly inspired ideas here, and I’ll always be grateful to Vampire Killer for the originality. But, I don’t know if I want to keep playing it. As interesting and enticing as it is, I’m not really having any fun. It’s just not very good. Don’t get me wrong: this absolutely should be re-released as it is. But, it also really should be remade. In fact, this is the game they SHOULD have redone, instead of Haunted Castle. I suspect if they end up doing one more Castlevania collection, we might get that remake from M2. I’ll still get this review done eventually, but for now, I need a replacement game. I don’t want my Halloween 2024 series to be too Game Boy-centric so I’ll save Legends for next year. SNES sounds better.

That’ll do.

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What I’m Playing Right Now #13 – Mighty Taito Tetris Rangers Starring Kid Dracula

October 29, 2024 by 3 Comments

It seems like November/December is going to be one of those times when tons of stuff I plan on covering releases all at once. The next update to Atari 50 is going to hit. Tetris Forever is going to launch in two weeks and I’m doing it. Taito Milestones 3 has been dated for early December, as has the new Power Rangers game from Digital Eclipse. Good lord, I’m going to be swamped.

Of course, I’ve reviewed all the classic games that bore the name “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” plus the two Super Sentai games that came before them. I just missed that review beating the announcement for Rita’s Rewind, and the truth is, that review had an audience of one: Digital Eclipse. I’m friends with most of their producers, and I have much love for them. They’re me. They’re gamers, and it’s so easy to get along with someone that you can connect with on that level. But, when the time comes to do game reviews, that friendship sh*t is out the window. But, I have faith. The benchmark for being THE BEST Power Rangers game is very, very small, but Digital Eclipse doesn’t aim for “good enough.” They clearly understand that this is a maligned franchise full of lazy, half-assed cash grabs, and they have a fanbase starving for the first unambiguously good Rangers game (don’t tell me the fighting game is. I played it. I was bored.)

I really don’t know if I’ll ever get around to doing the rest of the Power Rangers games. They’re not better. They really are all middle-of-the-road at best, and there’s SO MANY games I want to cover.

How many media properties have had dozens of games and not a single stand out in the pile? Has any media property EVER had so many games that were mediocre or worse without at least one game that everyone can point at and say “at least we got that one”? Or, to put it another way, if my analytics are any indication, the main lure of Power Rangers: The Definitive Review was the Sega CD review. The one EVERYONE knows is a trash fire. Y’all are weird, but I love you for it. So, it’s not like Digital Eclipse has a tall mountain to climb, but I have confidence they’ll knock it out of the park. This will be one of the first non-compilations I’ve reviewed of theirs. I think the only other one I’ve reviewed is Alice in Wonderland, which turns 25 next year. I really hope that Digital Eclipse, Nintendo, and Disney can work things out so that game can get a re-release.

Taito Milestones 3 hits at the same time. Jeez. The time hasn’t even arrived yet and I’m feeling the crunch of all these games I planned on reviewing hitting at the same time. Now, last time around, my review copy of Taito Milestones 2 came pretty early, but I was still late because I was completely unfamiliar with the included games. That won’t be the case with Volume 3. My readers seem more interested in this collection than they do Tetris Forever, which really speaks to how beloved Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Islands, and the Rastan games are. Actually, going off feedback, it sure seems like people are a lot more interested in how my Rastan reviews will go than the Bubble Bobble franchise. I’m especially proud of my Taito Milestone reviews. Here’s Volume 1 (with Elevator Action and Qix) and Volume 2 (with NewZealand Story and Liquid Kids). My review copy could arrive any time now.

I’m really hoping Tetris Forever won’t require 60+ hours of gameplay to review. I haven’t used emulators to “cheat” on any compilation I know is coming. Not Atari. Not Taito, and Not Tetris Forever. Man, it was tempting with Tetris, but I want to be icy cold going into it, and I only checked the lineup so that I could decide which games to use in BONUS REVIEWS that will be a staple of the Gold Master Definitive Reviews from here on out. In addition to the Tetris games included, I’m adding a small handful of extra reviews that go after the main feature. I did this with Making of Karateka, where I also included reviews of the NES and Game Boy versions of Karateka that I’m guessing they wouldn’t have included even if they could have. In the case of Tetris, there’s a lot of games they couldn’t use because of, let’s face it, Nintendo. There’s so many options for me to go with, so I decided to limit myself to five. Or six, since one of those will include two versions.

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  • Tetris (Tengen – NES)
  • Tetris (Game Boy)
  • Tetris DX (Game Boy Color)
  • Tetrisphere (Nintendo 64)
  • Magical Tetris Challenge (Nintendo 64 & Game Boy Color)

MY EYES! THE GOGGLES DO NOTHING!

The one that came the closest to making the cut? The Virtual Boy version. And it wasn’t because it was frying my eyeballs. It was just not that interesting. With all five versions above, it’s not just the gameplay that interests me. Tetris should be, in my opinion, fascinating to discuss. Few games have a mystique to them like Tetris does, and any game that loses that isn’t worthy of the discussion. This won’t be the first Tetris review I’ve done. I reviewed Tetris 99 back in the day. I basically had to since it owned my life for a few weeks in 2019. I pulled off a few miracle comebacks, like this one below. I also had a rare “no badges” win. Meaning I made the final two without ever knocking a single person out, so the person I was up against had all the attack power of all 97 other players, and I still won anyway. So, I think I was pretty good at it. I was also so addicted to it that I had to delete it from my Switch.

I also reviewed an indie version of Tetris called From Below that I’m completely heartbroken isn’t in Tetris Forever. It’s Tetris set during a giant squid attack. One tiny change yields HUGE gameplay results.

So, what AM I playing?

475 lines, 698,026 points on Tetris DX.

I did that today. And I think that’s pretty impressive for THE MOST RIGGED TETRIS GAME EVER dagnabbit. Yep, I stand by that, and I’ll talk about it in the Tetris Forever review. It’s weird they couldn’t get the Game Boy games since it’s basically the most famous version of Tetris. Yea, yea, I have to get back to Castlevania, but I realized I’m running out of time to do the bonus reviews for Tetris Forever as well.

The Kid Dracula Famicom review will hit in a couple hours, followed by more Castlevania goodness. I’ll be looking at the other two Game Boy releases, Dracula X for the SNES, and the MSX game before Halloween.

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What I’m Playing Right Now #12

October 29, 2024 by 1 Comment

Have you been enjoying the Contra reviews? Are you excited for new Castlevania reviews? Well, have I got amazing news for Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and Steam gamers (sorry PlayStation fans, you’re not included). Right now, you can get Contra Anniversary Collection and Castlevania Anniversary Collection for $3.99 each. FOUR BUCKS for some of the best collections out there. Wow! Any one good game in either of those sets are worth $4 by themselves, easily. Here’s what is in each set, and if they’re clickable, it means I’ve got the review up for it. Contra Anniversary Collection is weird because it has the US and some Japanese ROMs on the same menu, BUT there’s also the option to switch to an all Japanese ROM menu with different ROMs. So, I’m just going to list what’s on each menu!

CONTRA ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION
MAIN MENU

  • Contra (Arcade)
  • Super Contra (Arcade)
  • Contra (NES)
  • Contra (Famicom)
  • Super C (NES)
  • Contra III: The Alien Wars (SNES) Review Coming Very Soon to IGC
  • Operation C (Game Boy)
  • Contra: Hard Corps (Genesis) Review Coming Very Soon to IGC
  • Super Probotector: Alien Rebels (SNES, European version of Contra III: The Alien Wars)
  • Probotector (Mega Drive, European Version of Contra: Hard Corps)

“BONUS JP VERSION” MENU

CASTLEVANIA ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION
MAIN MENU

“BONUS JP VERSION” MENU

If you’ve somehow never played these games, you really should. Even if you’re not a fan of older games, or even their respective genres. I think they’re good enough to transcend genres, eras, or tastes. They’re some of the best games ever. In fairness, neither set is fully comprehensive. Contra Force? Nope. The MSX games, Contra and Vampire Killer? Nope. Rondo of Blood? Nope. Alien Wars for Game Boy? Nope. Castlevania Legends? Nope. Haunted Castle? It’s the wildcard of Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection, which includes eight games, seven of which are classic Konami shooters and one of which deserves to be taken out back and shot. BUT, the set is also only $3.99 right now. Dracula X? It was released on Castlevania Advance Collection, which is also on sale, but only for $12 instead of $4. You get all three Game Boy Advance releases, all three of which are stellar Metroidvanias and probably the greatest 2D action-adventure trilogy of all-time. Dracula X is a +1 throw-in for it, not that the set needed it. If you’ve been holding out on those collections, they’re basically the best value in gaming right now. So, what AM I playing?

Kid Dracula (USA, Europe)-241028-203720

“Dad’s going to be so proud of the wacky adventure I just had! I can’t wait to tell him and.. hey wait, is that a Belmont up on that cliff, watching the castle with a content smile? Oh no, that can only mean one thing..” As Kid Dracula turned around to await the inevitable, he said to himself “man, I need to switch sides.”

It’s going to be a packed week, folks. Kid Dracula for the Famicom is coming NEXT at Indie Gamer Chick. The Game Boy sequel, which I’ve never played before, will follow it. Castlevania: Dracula X is coming THIS WEEK to IGC. So is Vampire Killer, the MSX game. MSX fans seem to have found the Contra review, and I appreciate the support so much. It’s sad that, in 2024, only one collection currently has MSX games: Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Volume 1. It has both MSX games. So, Konami does remember the platform. Hopefully, the wonderful MSX community will be rewarded soon with a prestige collection that celebrates the most underrated gaming platform I’ve seen. It’s not like it only got five games. Can you imagine me reviewing a game from a platform that only had five games?!

Nah

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What I’m Playing Right Now #11

October 27, 2024 by 1 Comment

“What do you mean we didn’t get the G.I. Joe license for the NES?! We took the license, didn’t we? What do you mean it’s only for an arcade game? Well, who DID get it? Who the hell is Taxan? Wait, Capcom has it now? Are you telling me we missed out on a license we already develop for.. twice?! What license DID you get? Oh yea, sure Phil. I have a monster in MY pocket too, you pervert.” So, what AM I playing?

Contra Force (USA)-241027-110206

Oh my god.

The cynic in me thinks “Arc Hound” started life as a G.I. Joe game before it became a Contra game. And yep, now I get why Contra Force is shunned. Some of the most cheap-shot GOTCHA enemy placement combined with literally continuous slowdown. Pretty graphics mean NOTHING if the player’s NES is on the verge of a meltdown the entire time. This is a terrible game, and that REALLY pisses me off because there’s some excellent ideas here. Like this:

Strategic decisions by the player? Being able to swap between four different characters on the fly? Being able to set up your CONTRA FORCE as an actual squad that covers you and everything? That’s a great idea! I mean, the CPU clearly can’t handle this and the developers decided being total pricks with enemy placement was more important than fun, but hey, it’s not like this was some half-assed game. But, everything it does both right and wrong will be somewhere in the background, because I’ve never played a game with this much slowdown. Not even Kirby’s Adventure. If I was playing this on a real NES, it sort of feels like my console would be turning into a puddle at this point. Without exaggeration, the slowdown is continuous. Well, it should make for a fun review. For you. Not so much for me. That’s coming either tonight or tomorrow.

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That’s the full Taito Pinball line-up for AtGames Legends Pinball, whether it be a Micro, HD Legends, or 4K. We’re just getting started with the review process but we finished Arkanoid. That table would be an instant classic if not for the fact that the “bricks” (a 4×5 cluster of drop targets) reset after every death. Does it feel like an Arkanoid table? Not at all. But, it’s not bad either. We awarded it a CLEAN SCORECARD, and we’re just getting started. It’s also worth noting that Space Invaders DID get a table in 1980 that looks nothing like the video game but carries the license. It’s a widebody, and I think it sucks but it has some fans. From what I can gather, it’s one of the most polarizing tables ever made. Either way, that’s NOT the table that you get with Taito Pinball. They made a whole new one, and we’ll be reviewing it soon.

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What Am I Playing Right Now #10

October 26, 2024 by Leave a comment

Hey everyone. I want to once again say THANK YOU for following me at Indie Gamer Chick. You’ve made this week awesome. Thanks for everyone sharing links to my latest reviews on social media. Closing any social media is tough because you’ve all been so good to me for over thirteen years now. It means THE WORLD to me that you stuck around anyway. And it’s worked out great for me because I’ve been a lot more productive here. I have some FUN projects I’m working on. Contra Force’s review will probably hit Monday, and then Contra III: The Alien Wars. I know that’s the one everyone wants. Sega fans, you’re not left out. I’m doing Hard Corps too. I will have some scary games for Halloween too. Well, Castlevania. I dunno how scary that is to you. I’m doing the family thing this weekend. It’s one of those pinball-centric weekends in the Vice Household. So, what AM I playing?

Pinball

That’s the AtGames Legends Pinball Micro. This last Christmas, myself, Angela, and Sasha each got one from Santa Claus. Or a fat man who dressed like Santa but looked suspiciously like my father. Weird. It’s long overdue we look at some of the exclusive tables that can only be found if you own one of the now army of Legends Pinball models. I suspect in the near future we’ll finally take the plunge on one of the 4K models. When they first launched, flipper lag was brutal, and frankly, you never know if that will get fixed or not. Well, a lot of people insist it’s been fixed. People I trust. AtGames has multiple models and I think it’s likely we’ll be picking one in the near future. You can only play Zen Studios’ output on 4K, so for god’s sake, please don’t buy the standard “HD” tables thinking Zen’s work will eventually find its way to them. It won’t. Ever. BUT, here’s some good news: Zaccaria Pinball is on there. Magic Pixel’s engine for Zaccaria Pinball is Oscar and Dave’s favorite pinball physics engine. Yes, it’s basically the same as the versions of Zaccaria for Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and Steam, only with a lot fewer options but a REAL pinball feel, with a table that you lean over. The lack of bells & whistles is slightly disheartening. As far as we can tell, you can’t do five ball games or change the rules. No special challenges either. It’s just one single build of each table. That’s FINE, by the way, because they’re optimized for the digital pins. Aerobatics shoots just like a real table, with the exception of a teeny tiny stutter at the start of the first ball of each game. I have no clue why it does that.

We keep our pinball ratings sheets live for everyone to view, even when it’s a work on progress. I’ve added a tab for this Legends Pinball Micro project, if you want to keep up with us, or if you want to see our ratings for other platforms like Zaccaria. We know that many of my readers are casual pinball fans who still would like some form of pinball in their family rooms/man caves. Sasha and myself are working to get short-form reviews of all 50 tables that are built in to every Micro PLUS the AtGames exclusive tables with themes like Dr. Seuss, Natural History, and Taito.

Because Zaccaria’s pins, along with 21 tables created by Farsight Studios’ for their Pinball Arcade (which are the built-in tables for the full-sized Legends HD Pinball) are nearly identical to the tables from the Console/PC versions, we’re using the existing ratings for Pinball Chick team members Jordi and Dave (aka Dave Sanders, creator of Alien and Full Throttle for Heighway) for this project, BUT, they don’t own an AtGames device. They’re in Europe, so I’m not even sure if it’s an option where they live. The Vice Familiy ratings will ONLY be from AtGames devices, and we’ve started the review process. We hope to have it done very soon, for those who actually considering it for the holiday season. The Legends Pinball Micro retails for about $500 shipped, and it goes on sale all the time. It’s only $400 right now on Amazon. Here’s a sneak peak of the review, the first alphabetically. The picture is from Zaccaria Pinball but it’s literally the same table.

Aerobatics
Type: EM
Set: Zaccaria Pinball Pack 1
FREE WITH EVERY LEGENDS PINBALL MICRO
Based on “Aerobatics” by Zaccaria (1977)
Vice Versus Winner: Sasha (9,065,700 – “KID”)

We LOVE Aerobatics in the Vice Household. Don’t think of this as a typical EM. It’s more like a high-concept early Solid State. This has some very unusual game flow, with two spinners that feed a saucer, which in turn lights targets on the playfield or advances the bonus. The inlanes are semi-open and a ball is capable of rolling up them and out of play. To make up for this, both outlanes are easily lit, and if the ball falls down a lit outlane, you get an extra ball. Not only that, but every outlane has a puncher’s chance of bouncing back into play, something you can affect directly with a well-timed nudge. Aerobatics can get repetitive, no doubt. Our duels usually devolve into who can get the most extra balls, but it’s every bit as exciting as it is strange. This is the only Zaccaria I’ve given MASTERPIECE status to for a reason. In my opinion, this was their finest hour and one of the most underrated pins ever.
Cathy: MASTERPIECE (5 out of 5)
Angela: GREAT (4 out of 5)
Oscar: GREAT
Sasha: GREAT
Jordi: GOOD* (3 out of 5)
Dave: MASTERPIECE*
Scoring Average: 4.16 – CERTIFIED EXCELLENT
*Played on Zaccaria Pinball for Consoles/PC

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What Am I Playing Right Now #09

October 25, 2024 by Leave a comment

I’m not out of the 8-bit Contra woods yet. In fact, I have two Game Boy games (one of which is Super Game Boy enabled) and the Contra that isn’t a Contra in Contra Force left. I can’t believe the Sega Master System didn’t get its own Contra, or even a port of the NES/arcade ones. So, that puts me three games away from Contra III on the Super NES. Actually, two games away. Yes, I’ll do it before the Game Boy port. No, I’m not doing the Game Boy Advance version. In fact, it’s unlikely I’ll ever review many Game Boy Advance versions of SNES games here at IGC. It just doesn’t interest me as much, with one obvious exception: the Super Mario Advance series. If I ever review the NES Mario games, I’m far more likely to do the GBA versions. Besides, I have a lot of other older games to play. Like Konami’s Metamorphic Force, which just released to Arcade Archives. I think it’s the first ever release of this game. I might do that.

That’s Haunted Halloween from my friends at Retrotainment games. They offered me a demo of this, but I have a strict “no demo” policy and so I’ll wait for the finished game. For your consideration, here’s their (already funded) Kickstarter campaign. If you want the NES cart and not just the ROM, that’s where you get it. I don’t want to know very much about the game. I didn’t even watch the trailer above. I’m going to review this when it comes out, and I want to be ice cold for it. But, they’re good folk. So, what AM I playing?

WXTA0683

Nope.

I have a busy IGC/TPC weekend. Contra Force is next. We’re delaying Camp Bloodbrook coverage, at least for Pinball FX. It’s not ready. I assume the mode start isn’t meant to drop balls between the flippers to the degree it does. This is not “challenge.” This is just awful design, BUT, it doesn’t happen on “normal physics” so we assume this isn’t meant to happen. The problem is, we don’t happen to like the normal physics either. Our options are (A) review now and give it straight scores of THE PITS because none of us can have fun with a table where the mode start might qualify as the worst pinball shot of the year or (B) assume the table is broken but it will be fixed. We’re going with option B for now. In attempting to duel on “realistic” physics we had a Vice Family first: everyone tilted at least once. This weekend, we’re going to play on Pinball M and might have to split the review, assuming it works on M. Also, Princess Bride was patched extensively, including fixing some houseball issues. So we’ll be playing that.

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And, we’re going to look at some of the tables exclusive to AtGames Legends and Legends4K tables. Now, almost all Zen tables will eventually be on the digital pinball machines built and sold by AtGames (UPDATE: I meant ONLY the 4K tables. Zen’s tables will NEVER be on the standard Legends Pinball or the Legends Pinball Micro), but the magicians behind Zaccaria Pinball have AtGames exclusive tables, including ones based on Taito games. The Taito pins are mostly tables inspired by classic 70s and 80s pins. For example, the table based on Elevator Action above is actually a reworking of the 1984 Gottlieb (Mylstar) classic Alien Star. Sasha, heir apparent to IGC, wants to work on these with me. Let’s do it! And hey.. wait.. if Zen is working with AtGames and Magic Pixel are working with AtGames.. does this mean older Williams/Bally pins could possibly hit? Throw us a bone, gang! Surely the two companies can come to some kind of arrangement.

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What I’m Playing Right Now #08

October 24, 2024 by Leave a comment

Super C for the NES might be delayed until tomorrow. That’s because we’re starting work on Camp Bloodbrook right now. The first of two installments of Vice Versus related to Camp Bloodbrook will hit today or tomorrow at The Pinball Chick. In my household, dueling is one of the biggest attractions to pinball for us. We’re not just playing pinball, but trying to defeat each-other. Angela especially puts a LOT of stock in pinball as a competitive sport. “It’s not just about how a table shoots, but how fun it is to watch people besides myself shoot the table.” So, we’re spinning off that discussion into its own feature at the Pinball Chick. So, what AM I playing?

First impressions on Camp Bloodbrook: Yep, it’s a Dolby pin. Lots of amazing shots, but no consideration for how demoralizing houseballs are. I’m going to guess what happens in the above clip was unintentional. I’m also going to guess that Zen Studios is over the “normal physics.” Much like Xena: Warrior Princess, Camp Bloodbrook’s “normal physics” games are atrocious, but I really think this is a whole new level of atrocious. The bounces are so weird and random. The speed is. The gravity itself is. The ball is so floaty and its reaction to solid surfaces is so unnatural. So, how about this, Zen Studios: instead of this ridiculous two physics system you have, how about dump one and focus all efforts on the other? Because having to develop tables for two completely different forms of physics, IE reality itself is unreasonable. It feels like tables are always compromised by one physics or the other.

HJBT1171

Can’t get enough of that Sugar Crisp.

“Normal” physics have no value anymore except sucking resources that could be spent optimizing one version of the table. You can’t even say normal physics acts as a trainer for novice players. What is it training, exactly? Because the physics are so different that the angles themselves change based on the physics. Muscle memory that works on one set of physics doesn’t on the other. Normal physics seems completely detached from reality, and it’s certainly not the easy mode. Not when “normal physics” has completely baseless rejections on ramps to the degree it does. Realistic physics, depending on the table, are killing it. Maybe your designers will be able to bring out tables faster, with less need for patchwork, if there’s only one universal set of physics. Maybe it’ll also eliminate the expectation that new tables won’t fully work as intended until patches arrive well after the fact. With that note, Princess Bride was patched today as well, so our final ratings for that should be hitting soon as well.

UPDATE: Only the “realistic physics” have the straight down the drain problem with the locker seen above. We’re likely to vote that Camp Bloodbrook is OUT OF ORDER until this is fixed. On the other hand, I became the Xbox World Champion of Classic – Normal Physics. #2 all time at the time, but it’s already fallen to #3. Still champion of Xbox though.

PJJS6330

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What I’m Playing Right Now #07

October 24, 2024 by Leave a comment

This part lasts about two seconds. UP OR DOWN? OMG! I can’t deci.. it’s over. Back to running in a straight line.

It wasn’t until after I hit publish on the review of the Super Contra coin-op that I stopped and thought “did platforming even matter?” In the side-scrolling stages, you’re mostly running along the ground. Sure, you might go up a hill or two, and later in the game the path zig zags a little. But, you’re mostly just jogging. Since the jumping is ineffective towards dodging most bullets (nowhere near as effective as ducking), Super Contra feels like a game of just brute force and nothing more.

So, what AM I playing?

The Super C NES review hits later today. Let’s face it: the coin-op side of the Contra equation was never going to be the highlights of the marathon. The best thing I can say about both is that I’m happy with how the reviews turned out, and I’m happy I never have to play either ever again. Well, assuming Konami doesn’t get it together and realize they’re in a position to do a prestige collection of their classic games. Which, in fairness, Contra Anniversary Collection sort of was. It offered US, European, and Japanese ROMs and a “bonus book” that really isn’t that interesting. There’s also two games I’d consider to be “missing.” Did the MSX game belong in the set? Yes. Does the set hurt for its absence? Not really. Contra NES alone is worth the $20 asking price, in my opinion. It’s not just any game. It’s one of the greatest games ever made, and I suspect you’ll get enjoyment out of other games in the set. Hell, I’ve still got the 16-bit Contra games left, and the Game Boy games, the second of which (1) was made by Factor 5 (2) uses the Super Game Boy and (3) also isn’t in Contra Anniversary Collection. That’s the other missing game, and it makes even less logical sense to skip it. Game Boy was a global platform, unlike the MSX. It’s critically acclaimed, too. Some decisions I will never understand.

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