johnny_boy

DK is more about the elaborate game field than customization or quantity. The barrel stage collapsing would not make much sense. The collapsing platforms of the last stage are a narrative device to establish a satisfying conclusion to the game's (meager) plot. Interestingly, there is an unofficial sequel in the form of a ROM hack of the original DK arcade game: D2K Jumpman Returns. The official sequel is DK Jr. of course, but then the spiritual sequel to the first would be "Donkey Kong" for the original Game Boy (with Super Game Boy compatibility,) aka Donkey Kong '94. I love that game. Ultimate Wizard Screenshots Chuckie Egg Screenshots + Atari 8-bit Screenshots

Heheh... Junkman... Chuckie Egg, and its sequel, mostly well-known to Spectrum owners, were decent, if not ground-breaking single-screen platformers. Donkey Kong, I think, was rather hard to replicate because of the uniqueness to each of its levels. You had new structures and entirely new patterns to each screens. You couldn't just make a "DK Contruction Kit" because then you'd have to basically add powerful scripting features and fresh structures that could push the gameplay in different ways. Maybe Jumpman came closest to its spirit, by adding/removing pieces of terrain. A simpler, more manageable solution. "Wizard" and "Ultimate Wizard" would be my personal pick, for its extra features and depth, plus a fully-formed construction set. It one-upped its main 8-bit competitor (Jumpman) but may have lost some of its straightforwardness and appealing simplicity in the process. edit: Talking about "Hard Hat Mack", maybe there's a case for it being closest in spirit to DK. Remembering its levels, they seemed to be pretty complex, from a design point of view. I don't think it comes close to it though, gameplay-wise. For the quick run-through I had with it, there seemed to be something awkward about the first level's layout. It lacked "flow" and the goal didn't seem as obvious as DK.

Yup, can confirm the analog over-sensitivity too on my end. It's been this way ever since I got my wired Xbox 360 controller last year. Plugged either under Mac OS X or Windows, it does the same thing. Still definitely playable, but may render one bonkers if trying to set custom button layout. I manage somewhat fine with the defaults, but sometimes wish I could set the d-pad, for games like Pac-Man. BTW, 360 controller is very much recommended for PC gaming. I believe it's the best one on the market right now. Only criticism I could think of would be the weird d-pad. Logitech pads have always given my friends and I trouble in the past. Shoddy build quality.

Hunchy II is a good example of an optimal amount of "fun" extracted from a minimum amount of code, on the 2600 at least. For some reason, I mostly prefer it over other classic-era platformers (Manic Miner, Chuckie Egg, etc.)

LoZ was the second video game I've ever played, and I've just learned how to start a perfect game before the first dungeon, watching this video. Thanks for sharing!

Crazy stuff. Funny how it's instantly recognisable as a Seemo game, especially at the title screen. Your personality is very present in your works, through some minor traits - font choice, sound, general flavor.

Mighty impressive. I remember playing the early WIPs, and so can appreciate even more how full the game looks now. Nice title screen. The whole visual design of the game is remarkable, especially when aware of the hardware limitations. Wish there was a way to turn off the music. It sounds good in the first few minutes, but then gets tiring to hear. The transition between death and life indicator screen is too abrupt. I think it would be better to cook a small death animation or sound, to communicate more clearly to the player that he has failed. Think Super Mario death jingle, or Zelda 2 epileptic inducing death flash. Doesn't have to be fancy either. I believe it would be neat if somehow there was a positive sound when the player finds a secret passage way. It's hard to believe this is actually running on the ol' VCS. How far have we come since 1979. Edit: Would be nice to have a "Game Over" screen, that lasts until player input.

Variations on the maze hunter/hunted theme have often given positive results, such as Bank Heist and Dark Cavern. I find the rare Malagai also fits in there. Bump 'n Jump is a stunning conversion and succeeded in keeping the original's touch. Not a fan of the looping tune that constantly runs in-game, but still has to be respected as a technical feature. Pengo and Spy Hunter: two arcade conversions that also shined. Thought I'd mention them, even though they might not qualify for this topic (Spy Hunter is pretty well known.)

I was vaguely aware of GEMS' approachability from a composer's point of view, and believe this easily explains its mass popularity back in the day. You are right of course when referring to EWJ 1&2's customized use of it, to great results. I just have this impression that too many developers didn't warm up to the Genesis' untapped potential, and saw it in an unfavorable light when compared to its rival. The SNES' specs initially seem more appealing, its later release gives an impression of "latest tech", even though the specs were finalized early on in its dev cycle. Tom Kalinske was quoted as saying that he had the great challenge of selling an "inferior product", and Capcom never really warmed up to Gen's tech. When pushed to its limits, both consoles can do an outstanding show, but I think it was harder (required talent) to do so on Sega's 16-bit offering.

Some of those titles mentioned don't actually use any technical wizardry to push the hardware, but make top use of the restrains to show impressive aesthetics. So, not pushing the silicone, but the creative juices.

Architecturally speaking, I believe the SNES was better built to incite developers towards its strengths. Its complex sound chip was certainly more than able to blare out muffled noise, but it was immediately obvious with its sample-based system that you were to create multi-layered instrumentals. Genesis (especially with the disliked GEMS engine), unfortunately was favorable to lazy productions. Most of the 3rd party productions made use of it, often to mediocre results. Graphic-wise, the Genesis must be pushed to make efficient use of the limited color palette, with dithering and flickering. Lack of resources and talent often made it so that products had an inferior look compared to their SNES cousin, especially in static screenshots. It took talented wizards, studios that cared, like Treasure and Blue Sky to make it shine. Lazy or rushed out SNES titles could at least look somewhat nicer, until you picked up the controller to give it a try. I'm not saying Genesis is necessarily the inferior system. It was simply easier to churn out bad games and take the easy way out. SNES was more "future-proof" and bowed more gracefully in its last years.

Katamari Damacy and its sequel, We Love Katamari, are the single reason I got myself a PS2, a few years back. Once you get past the extreme japanese quirkiness, you might start digging the great gameplay waiting for you.

I agree on the idea of a new name. The low-brow humour doesn't hit it with everyone, and I wish this game to reach as large an audience as possible, even if it is just an 2600-aware one. "Panky Panda" is a good start. The game is a cool demonstration of what the 2600 is capable of, in a platform adventure format.

Related to this, it's interesting to note that Nintendo's first home consoles were the Color TV Game series, from 1977 to '79. Each dedicated console played a type of game. http://en.wikipedia....i/Color_TV_Game 1977 - Color TV Game 6 contained 6 variations of "Light Tennis" (or Pong) 1978 - Color TV Game 15 15 slightly different versions of Light Tennis 1978 - Color TV Racing 112 bird's-eye-view racing game, steering wheel and gearshift or two small controllers for multiplayer 1979 - Color TV Game Block Breaker ported version of "Block Breaker", arcade game based on Atari's Breakout 1980 - Computer TV Game port of Nintendo's first video arcade game, Computer Othello

Bare Knuckle 3 - Beat 'em Up For the untampered SoR 3. Rainbow Island - Arcade Action Great arcade conversion. Battle Mania 2 - Shooter, Side Scrolling We usually feel more attachment to our hero when it assumes a human shape and identity, compared to other ship-only titles like Gradius. Plus, it's just an all-around fun and engaging shooter. Others commonly mentioned imports: Twinkle Tale, Alien Soldier, Panorama Cotton, Yuu Yuu Hakusho - Sunset Fighters (Treasure Fighter, similar to Bleach DS), Wonderboy 6, King Colossus (action RPG popularised by M.I.J.E.T.'s english ROM patch), New Zealand Story (Kiwi Kraze on NES), Super Fantasy Zone (Jap + Eu.)

I agree with your view. Would be a shame to "lose" this game forever, if no one backs up the executable. I wish we at least had a video somewhere to watch it in action. Anyway, thanks for the extra info!

Wow, those are just... orgasmic!

Imagic also knew how to adapt to each console's strength. Wing War for Colecovision looks fabulous. It's fun to compare versions of Demon Attack to each other. As mentioned on the Intellivision board, they did great on that platform, too.

Soul Calibur Sonic Adventure Grandia II Skies of Arcadia Shenmue Resident Evil: Code Veronica Jet Grind Radio Phantasy Star Online Dead or Alive 2 Crazy Taxi From what I remember, Soul Caliber was the one game in this list to have a lot of hype and delivering upon it. I'm talking specifically about market reception, sales and media conversations. I admit though that I might be biased because of my contemporary outlook. Not many of those games have aged graciously.

In Ladybug, I like how the flickering was taken good use of, by superimposing two different colors that make a third one to the eye. There are so many interesting feats in this one, I'd love to see them listed and commented upon. Imagic really pulled their titles above the rest, at least visually, by paying attention to the visuals and hiring professional artists. Demon Attack looks good, even though the speed isn't "all that" and the variety is lacking compared to its inspiration, Phoenix.

http://nitros9.lcurtisboyle.com/z89.html A little known Zaxxon clone for Coco 3, from 1989. Can't find much info about it online.

I feel the Dreamcast lacked a "killer app". Sonic Adventure was supposed to fill this role, but instead they made a nice looking tech demo (especially the whale chasing part.) I still can't find a decent game in there somewhere. The console had tons of quality games for a handful of somewhat niche markets, but no head-turning titles.

Maybe our residents artists could use this as inspiration, to make our very own AtariAge approved game cutouts. Or maybe simply to honour our favorites classics - Yar's Revenge cutout; Pitfall; Breakout... the possibilities are endless.

So, the color clash is to emulate the arcade original, or because of technical constraints? Either way, I love it. Adds to the retro feel. Much better than the 2600 original. Of course, a few decades between the two doesn't hurt. Edit: How about when compared to the Berzerk VE homebrew? Is this one better?

Exult was my first exposure to Ultima VII, a few years ago, and it felt like it was supposed to - none of the legacy problems and all of part 2's welcomed additions. I appreciate its open world and no-nonsense combat system. Playing Baldur's Gate later on felt like a step back in some ways. I really dislike Dungeons & Dragons stats system, and the auto-leveling feature always left me with a nagging doubt that I was being had, by not exploiting all options available to me.