Tag: Retrogaming

Fantasy Shooter Mushihimesama Explodes Onto the Nintendo Switch!

From bringing the original to the PS2 to spinoffs on iOS, this Japanese styled backdrop from genre masters CAVE Interactive Co., Ltd and publisher Live Wire is now available on Nintendo Switch through the eShop.

Mushihimesama

Revealed during Nintendo Direct E3’s Japanese Stream 2021. the arcade fantasy bullet rail shooter, Mushihimesama (虫姫さま, “Bug Princess”), is now available on the Nintendo Switch! This video game set in an imaginative forest world has seen many ports over the years since its debut in arcades. A remixed and reimagined version of Mushihimesama in v1.5 offered alternate soundtracks, mechanics, and bullet patterns.

From bringing the original to the PS2 to spinoffs on iOS, this Japanese styled backdrop from genre masters CAVE Interactive Co., Ltd and publisher Live Wire is now available on Nintendo Switch through the eShop.

Usually these types of games are difficult to master. In what makes these latest arcade style ports easier to deal with includes a toggle to adjust the difficulty level. The goal is to keep on shooting and dodge the rain of lasers, bullets and bombs being tossed at you.

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Making the “Switch” to Jetboard Joust for a Mobile Generation

The Nintendo Switch version (that I played) is a recent port of the PC/Mac platformer. Gameplay is very smooth and I couldn’t find a bug that needed squashing even if I tried. The 8-Bit presentation on a 65″ 4K screen is crisp, and the only time I struggled was with the sensitivity of jostling back and forth with the “joust” and “fire” button.

Jetboard Joust

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Bitbull Limited
Now Available on the Nintendo Switch

Jetboard Joust has everything I’d expect from a reinvention of Williams Electronics’s Defender kicked up a notch. Players knock down the enemy and they drop coins so you can use them to acquire power-ups. The dedication to destroy your enemies and earn in-game currency (without ever having to spend real money) at the same time makes for a nicer product. Similar to the classic, you pilot, no skate on a flying board where you have to race from one part of a side-scrolling world to another to save humans.

The alien bosses you meet are titanic, and the gameplay includes a dungeon-crawl. Instead of rinse and repeat with the speed of these abductions getting faster, you have to deal with other foes (there’s 50 of ’em!) as you advance through levels, new planets and maybe a black hole!

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Retrogaming or SID Programming with The Commodore 64

Sadly, this update does not have the additional connectors to hook up all the classic storage peripherals like the 1541 Disk Drive or any cartridge games. You need an original Commodore 64 for that.

Commodore 64By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

The Commodore 64 was the very first computer I ever owned, and I have fond memories of learning how to type with it. It doesn’t hold a candle to a proper typewriter but if people weren’t playing video games, just what this machine is used for was limited. For myself, I learned how to code in BASIC and tinkered in GEOS (a graphic user interface) to teach myself elementary graphic design before I finally learned C on an Apple Mac in high school.

Nostalgia is more than likely to drive sales as this machine makes a comeback as a retro gaming device. Amusingly enough, Retro Games Ltd  is the maker. Having this focus can be a detriment when I recall the original packaging suggested this computer can do a whole lot more!

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Atari’s Missile Command hits the Mobile World & Fond Memories with Tempest 4K

Missile Command Cover artBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Available on iOS and Android

Of all of Atari’s vast catalogue of classic games, the two I played the most were Tempest and Missile Command. With both games reimagined for current gen computers, consoles and mobiles, there’s more than a feeling of nostalgia going on. The latter is released to celebrate its 40th anniversary, and Tempest 4000 (available on Amazon)Missile Command and Atari is available for the Playstation 4 for a little longer than a month. I’ve played the Steam version of the latter for the PC, but using a controller is just not the same as using a paddle.

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Classic Halloween Games to Get Your Spook On!

Here are some games I would recommend checking out to get in the mood for thrills and chills. It has everything from lighthearted spooks to in your face jump scares!

Dreaming in Digital
By Shawn Trommeshauser
(Dreaming in Digital)

Halloween is just around the corner and that means it’s time to break out the scary movies and games! (Is it ever a bad time for that?) No matter how you celebrate this day, something on this list is sure to appeal to you.

Even if not, there are countless other horror and monster themed games out there from the famous titles like Alone in the Dark and Ghosts & Goblins to the letter known indie thrillers such as Doki Doki Literature Club and Pony Island, there’s always something to play alone and in the dark.

Here are some games I would recommend checking out to get in the mood for thrills and chills. It has everything from lighthearted spooks to in your face jump scares!

 

Luigi's Mansion

Luigi’s Mansion

Luigi from Super Mario Bros searched for his missing brother, Mario, while clearing ghosts out of a haunted mansion with a vacuum cleaner-like ghost trapping device. The Luigi’s Mansion series by Nintendo began on Gamecube with both a remake and a sequel available for the Nintendo 3DS/2DS systems. Give it a shot to prepare yourself for the anticipated third game in the series coming soon to Nintendo Switch!

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[Fantasia 2019] We Are Little Zombies, A Movie Review

The narrative in We Are Little Zombies is dreamlike. Despite a long run time, the latter half made more sense to me than the opening act.

We Are Littie Zombies Movie PosterWe Are Little Zombies is a misleading title. While the situation borders on black comedy, perhaps the terror lays in what four 10-year-old tweens are facing: isolation. When they have to face grief at the loss of their parents, just how they react is a complex mix of juxtapositions worth studying. Writer/director Makoto Nagahisa tosses a lot of imagery at viewers. It’s like watching FLCL for the first time.

Hikari (Keita Ninomiya), Ikuko (Sena Nakajima), Ishi (Satoshi Mizuno) and Takemura (Mondo Okumura) can give Wednesday Addams a run for her money. They have no hope for their immediate future. When nobody seems to want them, relatives included (they are suspiciously missing in this narrative) all they have are each other. They met at the crematorium and after a lengthy backstory told in flashbacks, they decide to form a band. Their idea to express their life through music–which I have to label bubblegum punk.

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