Game Bites: Elementallis

 Elementallis

Developer: AnKae Games
Publisher: Top Hat Studios, Inc.

Rating 2 out of 5 stars

Elementallis should really be called 'A Wink to the Past.' The game wears its retro gaming bona fides on every screen. The player sprite and map layout and combat feel like they're ripped from Link's Awakening. The elemental magic system (complete with ring menus!) screams Secret of Mana.

The problem in comparing your game to Secret of Mana or A Link to the Past is that very few games are as good as Secret of Mana or A Link to the Past.

Game Bites: Lovish

Developer: LABS Works
Publisher: DANGEN Entertainment

3 stars out of 5

Lovish is a delightful little throwback to action platformers of the 8-Bit era, reminiscent of NES classics like Fire n' Ice and the Adventures of Lolo.

The game has players aiding Sir Solomon as he fights through the various rooms of Devil Lord's castle to save his beloved Princess Tsuna. Except Solomon has fired the rest of his crew and maybe Princess Tsuna doesn't really want to be saved? 

Stages are short, usually taking only a minute or so to complete. Between stages, players are treated to a variety of cut-scenes and minigames. Players can collect coins to upgrade Sir Solomons jumps and attacks, opening even more of each room to explore. Its the usual mechanics of the genre and its all implemented very well. Controls are tight and acquiring upgrades is very satisfying.

Book Bites: Super Nintendo

Super Nintendo: The Game-Changing Company That Unlocked the Power of Play by Keza MacDonald
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Super Nintendo is an enjoyable history of video game giants Nintendo through the lens of some of the company’s greatest games. MacDonald clearly knows her stuff and by dissecting hanafuda cards, Super Mario, Pokémon or Splatoon, deftly shows the collaborative, goofy environment that has allowed Nintendo to flourish while competitors—Atari and Sega and now even Microsoft—have come and gone. 

There’s lots of fun trivia to surprise even hardcore gamers.  Although, let me push up my nerd glasses here and say there are a few factual slips; Kirby's Adventure is misattributed to the SNES and the text omits that the  Donkey Kong arcade game began its life as a Popeye game that Nintendo couldn't secure the rights to. The text also hints toward Shigesato Itoi and Mother/Earthbound without ever really discussing the game, and I'm not sure if this is some sort of oversight or a sly in-joke at Nintendo's own attitude toward the Mother game series. 

Accessible and breezy, the text, much like Nintendo itself, should be pick up and play fun for even casual video game fans.

View all my reviews

DANGER !!!!!! TERROR HORROR

That would make a pretty decent T-shirt, no?

Tecmo Super Bowl 2014!

Here's a little album of updates I've done for this year's release of Tecmo Super Bowl from the group at tecmobowl.org

That's a clown game, bro.

Yes, the header is correct. And no, I haven't sustained any (serious) brain damage. This entry into our 8-Bit Encyclopaedia intends to elucidate a NES game about McDonalds and their eponymous Clown Mascot.

Developed by Virgin Interactive and released Stateside in February 1992, M.C. Kids (titled "McDonaldland" in Europe) follows two kids--Mick and Mack--as they try to retrieve Ronald McDonald's stolen magical bag.


Seeing only screenshots like the one to the left, most dismissed the title as shill for hamburgers and french fries. Honestly, it's hard to fault this snap judgement; M.C. Kids, like so many product tie-in games (I'm looking at you Barbie and Muppets), looks cheap. The sprites, shown in the header above, are monochromatic and blocky compared to Mario and Luigi. And McDonald's golden arches are literally on every screen of the game.

Much better, right?

These first impressions are a shame, because M.C. Kids stands alongside Super Mario Bros. 3 as the pinnacle of platform gaming on the NES. So I propose we re-brand the game and scrub away every last trace of McDonald's grease. Instead of M.C. Kids, let's call it Magic Kids. Instead of running through McDonaldland at the behest of Ronald McDonald, let's say Nick and Will are questing through Magic Land to help Walter Wizard regain his stolen Magic Bag from the sly Dragon. Much more palatable, no?

So. Let's hit the reset button...

I Loathe You, Sheldon Cooper!

With apologies to Larry Doyle.

Every time I see Seth Rogen or Paul Rudd, despite the joys of Superbad, Knocked Up, or this past season of Parks & Recreation, I think of this:

Which is infuriating because (flippant use of ”gay” aside) NO ONE MASHES A CONTROLLER LIKE THAT! For the love of Cthulu, stop! Despite what cutesy webcomics would have the general public believe, no one plays video games two-fisted with their whole bodies – Wii and Kinect notwithstanding. No one.

READ THE REST AT: http://prancinglaggard.com/2012/06/01/i-loathe-you-sheldon-cooper/

Ready Player One, a Walkthrough

Gaming is rooted in literature. Early video games were naught more than digital Choose Your Own Adventure books. A straight line connects the oral storytelling of Dungeons & Dragons to Final Fantasy and Skyrim. One could even argue the influence of Zane Grey and Tom Clancy on FPS titles.  Gaming and literature share the allele of mental immersion, giving us both Worlds of Power and Mass Effect.

"I'd play the shit out of that game... Oh wait. I already have."

Unlike novelizations of Mega Man 2 or Halo, Ernest Cline’s kinetic Ready Player One isn’t just a video game novel; it’s a novel that picks at the intersection of gaming and humanity. Think of it as a self-referential Dungeons & Dragons campaign or a DLC pack that comes into play when you step out your front door.

The plot follows Wade Watts, a destitute teen living in a dystopian, poverty-stricken, future Oklahoma City. Like the rest of America, Wade’s only escape from the crumbling economy is a virtual reality/MMORPG/social network called OASIS that trades heavily on nostalgia for the late 20th century. When OASIS creator James Halliday dies and wills his fortune to whomever finds a series of easter eggs within OASIS, Wade’s pluck (and encyclopedic knowledge of the 1980′s) land him front and center in a game that makes Battletoads seem simple.

Read the rest at: 

http://prancinglaggard.com/2012/05/09/ready-player-one-a-walkthrough/

8-Bit Encyclopaedia: Mega Man 2 vs. Mega Man 3