Mike Mertes, Author at Old School Gamer Magazine

Analogue Pocket Review – Mike Mertes

Mike Mertes — Sun, 07 Apr 2024 12:14:56 +0000

In continuation of the company’s modern revision of classic video game consoles, Analogue brings the Analogue Pocket, a beautiful handheld that pays an incredible homage to the Game Boy. Analogue’s portable is more than just a remake, though, as it has many features that excite any retro gamer. The Analogue Pocket gives its users three different options to play games on it, even if the games are not initially from a handheld.

The first option is utilizing the Pocket’s cartridge slot, allowing you to play your physical Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance games, just like you would on the original handhelds. Analogue bolsters the cartridge route even further by selling additional cartridge adapters that allow the use of Game Gear, TurboGrafx-16 HuCards, Neo Geo Pocket, and Atari Lynx cartridges. The Pocket makes playing incredibly easy for anyone with a massive library of handheld games. These games look especially great on the high-quality LCD screen of the Analogue Pocket, which is one of the clearest displays I’ve seen on a handheld device in quite some time. In what I would consider a “hybrid” route, handheld console flash carts also work perfectly on the Analogue Pocket.

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Big Box Boutique – by Mike Mertes

Mike Mertes — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 18:54:39 +0000

I may have been the new kid on the block when it came to PC Gaming in 1995, but even as a console gamer, I knew the Ultima series carried some significant clout. The console versions of some of the Ultima games never crossed my path, but I knew that many of the RPGs I was playing had their roots shaped by Ultima.

Around early 1996, I would get my first chance to play an Ultima game, and that initial experience would be that of the latest entrant in the series, Ultima VIII: Pagan. My experience was dreadful. The mouse controls were awful; I had no idea what to do to progress in the game, and I often wandered the world aimlessly. If I wasn’t getting arrested and executed in town for simple mistakes, I was getting my butt kicked by all the combatants in Pagan. I tried very hard to enjoy Pagan. I loved the look of the world of Pagan, the overall dark tones…

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Behold The Evercade ! – by Mike Mertes

Mike Mertes — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 14:17:44 +0000

Blaze Entertainment entered the handheld console market in May 2020 with the release of the Evercade. The sleek little handheld had a lot of competition as the market was already flooded with cheap handheld units with built-in games, flimsy builds, and low-resolution screens. Still, Evercade distinguished itself from everything else by introducing a component near and dear to a retro gamer’s heart: Cartridges. Blaze Entertainment strived to work with the legacies of great gaming companies like Irem, Jaleco, Intellivision, Atari, Renovation, Data East, and many more to sell officially licensed compilation cartridges for use on the handheld. Just over two years after its release, the Evercade has a sizable cartridge and game library available to players. Just at the tail end of 2022, the Evercade brand received a new, backward-compatible handheld in the form of the Evercade EXP.

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Big Box Boutique – by Mike Mertes

Mike Mertes — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 13:00:17 +0000

Released on PC in 1990, Chris Roberts’ Wing Commander beat Star Wars to the video game space fighter simulator space by almost three years. The game came packed with not only spectacular 3D action but a Hollywood, Cinematic style presentation that would get pilots deeply intrigued by the human war against the giant cat-like Kilrathi that they were dogfighting within space.

Wing Commander delivered many firsts, such as the possibility of your wingman dying, branching paths and missions depending on failure and success, and a dynamic music score as space battles took place. The game received massive praise upon its release and saw multiple expansion packs, sequels, and even an actual Hollywood movie from its popularity.

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Bleeps On Wax: Bushiden Soundtrack

Mike Mertes — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 16:37:06 +0000

Welcome to Bleeps On Wax, where we look at a variety of Video Game Soundtracks released on vinyl!

Bushiden Soundtrack

Garoad is back at it with another fantastic game soundtrack. This time, Garoad lends his talents to Bushiden, a soon-to-be-released ninja action platformer that invokes memories of Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, and VICE: Project Doom. For those unfamiliar with Garoad, one of his most prominent pieces of work was the VA-11 HALL-A Soundtrack, providing virtual bartenders a kick-ass slew of energetic tunes while they attempted to mix drinks and change lives.

Black Screen Records decided to release only 100 copies of the soundtrack on vinyl, as later batches of the soundtrack will coincide with the game’s actual release date. I just happened to be in the right place and at the right time to secure an order of the record, as it was shortly sold out after I placed my order. The three-record vinyl release comes in a purple-ish marble color and has a trifold sleeve with tremendous art featuring the main character of the Bushiden saga. The vinyl pressing itself is high quality, with evenly mastered tracks for the vinyl format.

For anyone who enjoyed the VA-11 HALL-A soundtrack, Bushiden’s soundtrack is an instant must-have. While Garoad does focus some of the tracks towards a more traditional Japanese Ninja/Samurai sound that you would find in an equivalent genre film soundtrack, the sound is still very much Garoad. Garoad’s signature energy is all there with charging baselines, terrific piano licks, and uplifting energy,

Check out this preview of the tune used in the stage select screen to get a great example of how energetic Garoad’s music is. For anyone who listened to the VA-11 HALL-A soundtrack, I don’t think you’d disagree with me if I said this would feel right at home in the jukebox of the bar in the game.

Those looking to get a copy of the soundtrack will have to wait until they are back in stock at Black Screen Records, but when they are, you can get them at the following link:

https://blackscreenrecords.com/products/bushiden?variant=43814721519882

ABOUT THE GAME:

Your sister has vanished, and rumors swirl that Gaoh has been resurrected with an evil army at his command. Explore for cybernetic upgrades until you are powerful enough to defeat the diabolic Gaoh and his cybergenetic army once and for all in this futuristic action platformer!

Wishlist the game on Steam now:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1046920/Bushiden

TRACKLISTING:

A01 Heart of Steel

A02 Light and Dark

A03 The Storm Approaches

A04 Steel Ruins (Prologue)

A05 Specters of the Past

A06 Spirit of Dragon

B01 Stage Select

B02 The Wicked City (Act I)

B03 The Wicked City (Act II)

B04 The Sacred Forest (Act I)

B05 The Sacred Forest (Act II)

C01 Might of the Terra (Act I)

C02 Might of the Terra (Act II)

C03 One Must Fall

C04 Alley Shop

D01 Respite and Reflection

D02 Sinister Science (Act I)

D03 Sinister Science (Act II)

D04 Lost to Time (Act I)

D05 Lost to Time (Act II)

E01 Waterworks (Act I)

E02 Waterworks (Act II)

E03 Fire in the Sky

E04 Will the Light Perish?

F01 Cut Through Heaven (Koi)

F02 Cut Through Heaven (Dragon)

F03 Shadow of the World

F04 Shimmering Light

F05 The Path to Tomorrow

F06 Light and Dark (Instrumental)

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End of Days – by Michael Mertes

Mike Mertes — Wed, 03 Aug 2022 12:18:22 +0000

We have indeed reached the End of Days, as this will be the last installment of the series. Over the past few years,we have explored some fantastic hardware and games, though not all of them were great to play and research. For our final installment of End of Days, we will be looking at Code-Name: ICEMAN and the Atari ST Computer. While Codename: ICEMAN wasn’t really the last game released for the ST, it was one of the last few adventure games released on the platform from Sierra before they would exclusively start developing their games for IBM PC hardware. Enjoy this look into the first few moments of Code-Name: ICEMAN and some history on the Atari ST.

CODE-NAME: ICEMAN After an intense classified mission that ran for over two years, I felt that a well-deserved vacation, somewhere far away from my boss and everyone else back in Washington, was in order. I settled on Tahiti; after all, I spent many months in a cold submarine as I went about my missions and needed to make up for the sunshine I missed.

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Paul Niemeyer – by Michael Mertes

Mike Mertes — Sun, 31 Jul 2022 11:54:07 +0000

May 21st, 2022 – It’s been a rainy morning on the day of the B.N. Video Game Con, but Paul E. Niemeyer emerges from the car with a smile, and soon after, a hearty laugh as he cracks a joke with NBA Jam announcer Tim Kitzrow as they
make their way into the convention center. Paul and Tim split up as they walk to their designated booth spaces. Within moments, Paul is setting up his booth featuring some pieces of his fantastic artwork. This is certainly not the first convention that Paul, the original Mortal Kombat artist, and illustrator, has been at, but the B.N. Video Game Con will soon be a special one for him. Before the doors to the event even open, Paul is excitingly greeted by other show attendees, and with a big smile, he greets them all energetically. With his booth setup, he’s ready to start the day, and shortly after, the convention opens up to eager retro gamers.

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THE MiSTer FPGA by Michael Mertes

Mike Mertes — Tue, 21 Jun 2022 11:31:12 +0000

As you read through this month’s issue, chances are the classic computer bug will bite you, and you may find yourself searching for a way to acquire one of those marvelous computing devices from the past. Who wouldn’t want to see the beautiful blue screen of a Commodore 64 or the Amiga workbench operating system function right before their eyes again? After completing my console collection many years ago, I felt like getting into classic computers and games would be the next logical step to exploring familiar and unfamiliar territory. Still, I had no idea how costly and frustrating it would be. Vintage computing can be a crapshoot because unless both the hardware and software are well maintained, you may find yourself with a device that won’t even boot up or socketed chips that have just gone bad.

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Castlevania: Nocturne Teaser Trailer Debut

Mike Mertes — Sat, 11 Jun 2022 23:41:14 +0000

Netflix recently released a teaser trailer for their latest animated entry in the Castlevania universe, dubbed Castlevania: Nocturne. While the trailer certainly doesn’t show off much in terms of action, it does confirm a key rumor that started after the 4th and final season of the original Castlevania animated series ended. Castlevania: Nocturne will feature Richter Belmont and will seemingly take place around the same time period as the “Dracula X: Rondo of Blood and even possibly “Symphony of the Night” video games. This could mean a number of key events that could be presented in the animated series based on the original source material. Many are hoping that this could mean the return of the Alucard, the Son of Dracula that assisted Trever Belmont in his fight against Dracula many years ago. It will certainly be interesting to see how the writers of Nocturne put their own spin on this later Castlevania timeline, but I have high hopes, as the original four seasons of Castlevania were excellent.

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End of Days – by Michael Mertes

Mike Mertes — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 11:32:17 +0000

Well, If you have a Netflix account, watch Adult Swim, or follow anime to even the slightest degree, you most likely have heard of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. Back in 2000, however, the series did not hold the same weight as it does now. If you were a subscriber to magazines like PSM or Game Pro in 2000, you would have encountered an odd advertisement for a game called JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure for both the PlayStation 1 and the Dreamcast. Even Capcom’s marketing campaign for the game seemed to be in on the “Who’s Jojo?” train. Despite some fantastic manga-style artwork shown off for the game, the advertisement gave little indication of what the story and concept behind JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure was. As such, many people dismissed the game entirely.

Those who followed fighting game series closely knew that JoJo was first released in arcades by Capcom in 1998 and followed up with an upgraded version in 1999. Devout anime fans knew even more about the background story of JoJo as it was first a very successful manga series that started in 1987…

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