Magazine Writer, Author at Old School Gamer Magazine

Tecmo Bowl

Magazine Writer — Sun, 13 Feb 2022 22:45:43 +0000

There is no denying it, American football is the sport of choice in the US. Millions upon millions of dollars are bet each year on the outcome of games and the Super Bowl is practically a national holiday. For that reason it is quite surprising that the first real great football video game didn’t come out until 1989’s TECMO BOWL for the NES. (Tecmo released arcade version in 1987)

There were other American football games previous to Tecmo Bowl but none were able to accurately capture the excitement of the sport and do so with controls that were fun to play. Many titles on early systems such as the Atari 2600 and Intellivision fell short with football, with horrible controls while offering good representations of other sports such as hockey, baseball and soccer (or football for all of our friends outside of the US!) – Read the rest of the article here from Classic Console Magazine (courtesy of Old School Gamer)!

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Mike Ditka’s Big Play Football

Magazine Writer — Sun, 07 Feb 2021 22:20:19 +0000

Mike Ditka’s Big Play Football is yet another miserable football game created for the NES. The one thing that separates this game from the pack is that it was never released. Nintendo Power mentioned it in their “Coming Soon” section for almost an entire year while other magazines from the era did full page reviews on it. In the end, Accolade realized that the game wasn’t worth their efforts.

Big Play Football started off as a 1989 release on the Famicom called Quarter Back Scramble and apparently Accolade liked what they saw. They picked up an endorsement from Ditka and away they went. It is unknown why this game was never released but there are a few possible reasons. The most official sounding reason that I’ve heard is that Accolade decided to focus on 16-bit games, which is perfectly possible. More likely, though, is that they realized it wasn’t worth paying Mike Ditka to use his name for a game that wasn’t very good. Since they didn’t create it themselves they wouldn’t take too big of a loss if they just buried it.

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DK Arcade

Magazine Writer — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 19:07:10 +0000

The follow-up to DK Arcade (also known as D1K Arcade), which was a stunningly complete rendition of Donkey Kong (1981), D2K Arcade is nothing less than the best home version of the coin-op classic ever released for any system.

There are two game modes in this immensely satisfying, professionally produced cartridge (no recycled materials used here), the first of which (Game 1, match) is an excellent rendition of Donkey Kong (the same as D1K Arcade), complete with intro, intermissions, and all four levels of play: Barrels (a.k.a. Girders), Pie Factory (a.k.a. Conveyor Belt), Elevators, and Rivets.

Yes, that’s right, ColecoVision and NES fans (of which I am one), your versions of the game—with their missing screen (Pie Factory) and lack of interstitial animations—now take a back seat this classy new cartridge (though, to be fair, the CV and NES versions have better graphics). And don’t get me started on the two-screen abomination that was Coleco’s Donkey Kong for the Intellivision, which galled gamers with its clumsy controls, ugly graphics, and tortured sound effects. – Read the rest of the from Classic Computing Magazine (presented by Old School Gamer) here!

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Carnival

Magazine Writer — Wed, 07 Oct 2020 18:56:10 +0000

Easily available from a variety of sources for less than $5 (cartridge only—a boxed copy might set you back $10 or so), Carnival is an unusual game in that it’s one of relatively few slide-and-shoot titles not set in outer space. Rather, as its title suggests, it’s a target shooting game with a traditional theme, sporting such targets as rabbits, owls, and ducks.

Players guide a gun right and left along the bottom of the screen, firing upward at the aforementioned animals, which move horizontally in rows and descend one row each time they pass. If a duck gets to the bottom (of three) rows and isn’t shot, it will come to life, leave the row, and fly downward. If the player doesn’t kill the duck in time, it will continue on to the bottom of the screen and eat several of the player’s bullets, which are lined up in a row.

Indeed, ammunition plays a big role in Carnival, so players should aim well and not waste bullets. Targets marked “5” and “10” appear in the rows and should be shot for extra bullets. In addition, a box at the top/left portion of the screen can also be shot for extra bullets (or extra points). Be warned, though, because shooting that box when a negative symbol is showing will decrease the bullet supply (or point total).

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Mutant League Football

Magazine Writer — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 18:49:32 +0000

Sega made one of the finest consoles known to man when they created the Sega Genesis. They also inadvertently created the sole reason for my parents thinking I was some sort of deranged sociopath. I’m not denying that my obsessions with fire and strategic dismemberment of my action figures didn’t help to reinforce those concerns, but this isn’t an article about me. Among the sources of growing concern that I was slowly becoming a disconnected robot that would only respond with
promises of Fruity Pebbles and game cartridges were the Mutant League games. Mutant League Football, to be exact. While I liked Mutant League Hockey well enough, Mutant League Football became a legitimate obsession in my house.

As a kid I never really liked playing sports games, instead
preferring to actually go out and play sports with my friends. Side effects of actually playing sports included having a general distaste for the way that most sports games played out; if not also resulting in me trying to implement Genesis era Madden plays into our neighborhood games of two-hand touch. All of this changed when I ventured into the local video game store with my mom. I had amassed enough wealth trading carts with friends to have the privilege of being taken to the cleaners by the store’s proprietor and getting some used game credit. Just enough credit to buy two shiny used Genesis carts. With my young mind already packed to the brim with a cynicism for recycled ideas in video games (something that never truly went away actually…) I let out a little squeak of glee when I saw the box art for the Mutant League games. They were on the shelf side-by-side, and beckoned me like some kind of beacon. I was mesmerized, and proudly wrapped my grubby little hands around the boxes and took them to the counter. My mom was aghast almost immediately. Skeletons, and monsters playing sports drew the line apparently. I assured her I wasn’t going to pledge my soul to Satan on account of the game, and spent a long and anxious car ride home.

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Advergaming

Magazine Writer — Sat, 03 Oct 2020 18:46:27 +0000

It’s another fine day in the big city. And at the Big City Video
Game Museum, it’s always better than fine.

Usually.

All these classic games are available, and my job is simple – choose among them and group them into an interesting display. Something that people will want to watch. Play. Experience.

I had spent the last several months gearing up for what I hoped
was going to be an awesome display. It was going to be the history of racing games. I was even going to separate the area into two. One area would have sprite based racing games like Night Driver, Monaco GP, and Super Sprint (with plenty of room for elbows when people started spinning the wheels) to laserdisc games to 3D racers like Daytona USA and Hard Drivin’. I had even managed to find a Speed Freak machine; a vector machine from 1975 that no one knew would form the basics of the modern racer.

But before I could even get to my office and enjoy my morning
tea, my assistant, Horace, raced up to me on the floor. “We need
to talk. Now.”

He doesn’t interrupt my quiet time, so I knew it was important. We went to my office and I locked the door. He took a seat at my desk. This wasn’t the time to correct him, so I took a chair in front of it.

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TinTin: Prisoners of The Sun

Magazine Writer — Thu, 01 Oct 2020 18:41:18 +0000

Unlike some other videogames I possessed, Tintin: Prisoners
of the Sun was one of the few I played on my own. None of my
classmates or my cousin, whom I used to play a lot with, liked
the comics, The Adventures of Tintin. They were mostly interested in Spanish comics or in other international heroes.

But I never agreed with them in their dismissals of Tintin. I
always enjoyed reading these comics by Hergé which traced
the exploits of the titular character, a brave Belgian freelance
journalist, his canine sidekick Snowy, and his small circle of
trusted friends. I thought the comics were clever and superbly
written. The moment I knew that there were videogames based on some of Tintin’s adventures, I rushed to buy one!

I hope that you enjoy reading about Tintin: Prisoners of the Sun
as much as I liked playing it as a kid!

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Interview: MICKEY CENDROWSKI

Magazine Writer — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 18:32:00 +0000

Mickey Cendrowski is one of the few female Adventure game
programmers out there. She worked on classic Adventure games for the TI-99/4A such as Oliver’s Twist and Rattlesnake Bend. She created an Adventure game database, as well as other work, such as utilities for genealogy and a “load” program. The recent film by Jason Scott, Get Lamp, was released shortly after this interview. This film chronicles some of the major events in the history of Interactive Fiction and Adventure Games. It has interviews with some of the most famous programmers and authors of the genre, talking in retrospect about their famous creations. If you haven’t seen it, buy it. Unfortunately, no TI99/4A programmers were interviewed. Hence, the inspiration for this text.

Mickey: Too bad the movie is already done, but then again it is
also bad that Jason never even contacted me directly. You would think that even if the movie was done he would have had the interest to follow-up on possibly the only girls who ever wrote the text adventure games using the Tex-Comp Adventure Editor. The only other girl that I know of is Lynn Gardner who co-wrote Oliver’s Twist with me, then she went on to create Zoom Flume by herself.

Our games were superior to the Scott Adams ones for two reasons. Scott would use a noun in his general description, like saying that a squirrel was there, and that word would appear on your screen, but then when you would say “Look squirrel”, the game would say “I don’t know what a squirrel is”. Lynn and I made sure that if we used a word in our game, you could use it as well.

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The Legend of the Mystical Ninja

Magazine Writer — Sun, 27 Sep 2020 18:21:48 +0000

Intro: Ninjas stick to the shadows, make for great assassins and kill without a trace. Ryu Hayabusa and Rikimaru are signature ninjas in the video game world and let’s not forget Goemon, star of The Legend of the Mystical Ninja for the Super Nintendo. Legend of the Mystical Ninja, developed and published by Konami, was released in 1992.

Story: When the evil Otafu kidnaps Princess Yuki and strange
things begin to happen in the once peaceful village, Goemon and Ebisumaru (known in North America as Kid Ying and Dr. Yang, respectively) come to the rescue when they find that villagers are being possessed by spirits. On your search for the Princess, you will travel all over Japan in search of clues on her whereabouts. The character Goemon is actually based off a Japanese folklore character named Ishikawa Goemon who was a noble thief. Think of him as a Japanese Robin Hood. The story unfolds through cut scenes sprinkled throughout the game.

Gameplay: Levels are divided into two styles of gameplay: free roam and side-scrolling. In the free roaming areas, you can walk around the villages defeating enemies, entering shops to buy items, talk to the town’s people for clues and more. Other areas in the game will switch to a traditional side-scrolling perspective, where your main goal is to defeat the enemies, defeat a boss and clear the area.

As your primary weapon, you are armed with a Kiseru which is a Japanese pipe used for smoking. You use your Kiseru to whack your enemies. In addition, you can buy bombs and other weapons to defeat enemies. Once you take down an enemy they will leave behind coins, scrolls and other useful items to collect.

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Hajime No Ippo: The Fighting!

Magazine Writer — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 18:16:17 +0000

Game developer Treasure has had a great presence on Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance. With some instant classics like Astro Boy: Omega Factor and Advance Guardian Heroes, Treasure has shown that it can deliver its signature gameplay on a portable gaming system.

Heck, Treasure even took a somewhat dead franchise like Tiny Toon Adventures and managed to create a unique beat ‘em up, Buster’s Scary Dream. Now, Treasure developing superb beat ‘em ups is nothing new. Each of the three above games falls in the beloved beat ‘em up genre that Treasure has visited time and time again. Fortunately, Treasure did venture out of the comfort zone of the beat ‘em up genre to develop a unique entry in the fighting genre for the Game Boy Advance. Unfortunately, this game never made it over seas so it is little known in the classic gaming scene. So grab some CalorieMate as we take a no holds barred look at Hajime No Ippo: The Fighting!

Hajime No Ippo: The Fighting was originally released in Japan on December 12, 2002. Pre dating Treasure’s reign of beat ‘em ups on the Game Boy Advance, Hajime No Ippo: The Fighting is based on the popular Japanese manga/anime Hajime No Ippo. It tells the story of a high school student named Makunouchi Ippo who has just begun career in boxing. Throughout the series Ippo meets various contenders as he fights his way earning titles and beating opponents. The Game Boy Advance game delivers a similar story and includes various characters from the anime series. This works as a nice and simple background for a fighting…er, boxing game.

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