I mention in my Mini Review that Flashback 2 doesn't even try to be a traditional cinematic platforming game, so it doesn't have any of the subgenre's qualities to satisfy fans of Another World and the original Flashback.
Unlike Flashback 2, these retro games didn't hold the hand of the player with an overabundance of hints from characters, and they never removed the challenge by dropping you back to the exact same spot after every death.
I was initially excited to review Flashback 2, but I now wish that Microids had included stricter 2D or 2.5D presentation, ideally with something akin to rotoscoping, as well as platforming and puzzles that expanded upon the genre.
My main concern is that younger gamers and people who don't have much experience with cinematic platformers will now have the impression that Flashback is a poor-quality gaming series, so the reputation of the original 1992 game has become worse due to this sequel's deficiencies, in my opinion.
One quick shout-out too, because my tagline was built upon Sammy's subheading from his news article, Flashback 2 Floods Gamescom with a Meaty PS5, PS4 Gameplay Trailer. It was Sammy who first wrote the 'Lookin' Conrad' pun, so I send credit to him for using it here.
If anyone has any questions about Flashback 2, I will keep an eye on the comments. Cheers, everyone.
@somnambulance I'm already keeping a list of games released this year that I buy, so I've got a better idea of my Game of the Year picks when December rolls around.
I'm going to keep my eye on people's impressions of Grim Guardians whenever I can, although since it's a Castlevania: Symphony of the Night-esque Metroidvania game, I'm only going to buy it when I've at least a straight, three hour stretch to play its opening, and to get an idea of its initial progression. I like to absorb myself in a Metroidvania title, rather than dip into it like I would an arcade game.
I've ended up buying PS4 Dead Cells for the second time, because like you say, I don't want to miss on the Return to Castlevania DLC this Monday, too.
I don't mind a double purchase too much, as I've ordered the Dead Cells 'Action Game of the Year' PS4 version, and I'm hoping that by buying it from an eBay shop that it still adds to Motion Twin's sales, because I like to support indie developers wherever possible.
I also hope it has the Rise of the Giant DLC included on the actual disc, which will be handy in twenty years if the PS4's PS Store ever disappears!
Once I find my previous, spare copy of Dead Cells, I'll gift it to a friend or family.
It sounds like you've got a few options of games to play at the moment, so enjoy a possible variety of gaming this weekend, mate.
@Ristar24 I stated above that I'm interested in the year that retro games were released, and one reason for this is the context of console hardware capabilities of the time.
For example, I said that arcade Street Fighter Alpha 2 released in February 1996, so its release was still relevant in regards to the technical transition from the 16-bit to the 32-bit eras.
You mentioned importing Street Fighter Alpha 2 for your Saturn, and my understanding is that SEGA's 32-bit machine was already showcasing advantages in extra animation frames when compared to the still decent PS1 port.
If you have a moment to check out Nintendo Life's Wii Virtual Console review of SNES Street Fighter Alpha 2 — a review by Corbie Dillard, who was an excellent retro writer during the earlier years of NLife — you could scan through to Comment 10 from December 2009, where I praised the SNES conversion for providing a noble 16-bit effort at replicating a technically complicated arcade game, comparatively speaking.
In more modern gaming language — partially due to the current technical capabilities of the Switch when compared to the PS4 and PS5 behemoths — it would be called an 'Impossible Port'.
Sticking to Capcom's Alpha/Zero series, I also remember being amazed at Crawfish Interactive's Game Boy Advance conversion of Street Fighter Alpha 3, which was another 'Impossible Port' from the history books (note that this link is to a Dave Frear review, who's a great NLife retro reviewer, too).
@Ristar24 Sorry for such a late reply, I spend a lot of time caring for the elderly in my family, so it's an especially hectic time for me at the moment.
I've been especially loving the extra features in Sonic Origins. I think it'd be great if other developers of collections became inspired by how its Story Mode creates a flow throughout a classic series by showing new opening and ending animations, and developers also put more effort into including worthwhile additions like its Boss Rush, Mission Mode challenges and especially the reverse perspective of Mirror Mode.
I spent a lot of time with Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure, it acts as an homage of the Mega Drive Sonic games in some ways, and it's a great looking game for the Neo Geo Pocket Color, although it understandably doesn't have fancy effects like parallax scrolling.
I hope you had lots of fun playing Metroid Prime Remastered. Back in November 2002 I imported Metroid Prime for my US GameCube, and I thought it was so amazing that I convinced my friend to swap his Xbox with my GameCube for a few weeks, so that he could complete Metroid Prime while I finished Halo: Combat Evolved.
Just as a heads up, even though you kindly copied my name into your comment, your message never reached either my email or my Push Square notifications, although I don't know if it was because my name was copied into you comment in the second paragraph down.
I always appreciate chatting with you about retro games, so as long as you don't mind getting a late reply like this, I'll try my best to respond even if it's further down the line.
@Tasuki Christmas time games can result in such lasting memories, especially with something as high quality as Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master. Like you say, it's such a great game, and I consider it in the top-tier of ninja games from the 16-bit era, alongside classics like Strider.
I regularly play Shinobi III via the PSP's SEGA Mega Drive Collection, which has a permanent place on my PS Vita.
My nostalgia is also through the roof for its predecessor, the Japanese release of The Super Shinobi, as I repeatedly read about it in magazines in 1989 and 1990, and I spent time mastering its awkward somersault double jump, plus I love Yuzo Koshiro's soundtrack to this day.
Have lots of fun playing GoldenEye, because it sounds like you're making new memories from playing a retro game with your family and friends this weekend.
When I read about how other gamers are passionate about their personal favourites – whether it's an article by the team, or comments by the readers – it makes me want to make a note of fun sounding games to check them out later myself.
@somnambulance It sounds like you have a good friend, who was able to give you tips about how to effectively respec your character, but in a way that really benefitted your progress. Good on him!
I agree that there's a lot of gratification to be found in learning from your mistakes in Elden Ring.
Your comment makes me think that our personal Game of the Year choices are not just about our favourite games from 2022, but it's the standout moments that makes these games so memorable.
This quote from your comment above epitomises that idea, I thought Elden Ring sounded really fulfilling when you described it as, "I actually dropped the controller and applauded at the screen after the last boss." Great stuff!
@Amnesiac You're right, 2022 was definitely a fantastic year for retro gaming, and Cotton Fantasy deserves an honourable mention amongst my 2022 Game of the Year picks. I really enjoyed discussing with you back in May about how you could unlock bonus stages in Cotton Fantasy, which were themed around Success' previous shoot-'em-ups. I always appreciate chats like that about retro games.
As far as the paltry four games in June's Wonder Boy Collection are concerned — especially with the recent news that the superior Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection will release digitally on PS4 and PS5 from 26th January, 2023 with 21 versions of Wonder Boy games – I just hope that these staggered digital and physical releases of the same titles doesn't become a standard approach by retro gaming publishers.
People already feel messed around with Turrican Flashback having so few games compared to Strictly Limited Games' various Turrican anthologies, especially as those Anthology volumes were also released digitally later on.
It can't feel satisfying to a retro gamer who feels pressured into buying a more expensive and expansive physical collection, just because its superior physical release is so limited, and then six months later the larger compilation is available cheaper digitally, anyway.
On a brighter note, thank you lots for all of your input about retro gaming in the comments on Push Square, mate. Wishing all the best to you!
@somnambulance and @Nf157 – Nice one to you both, I guess playing Elden Ring all wrong is the new way to play it right, then. What kind of Tarnished wanderer needs a guidance of grace anyway!
Also to Nf157, six player online Arcade Mode sessions of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge were radical indeed, it was the best kind of chaotic fun earlier this year. The amount of sprites on screen were pure carnage, and having five other buddies to back you up makes the Gnarly difficulty setting much more approachable too.
Below are eight notable retro collections, which were all released in 2022, to illustrate how this year was excellent for compilations of old games on PS4 and PS5:
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration (PS4 and PS5). Released November 11, 2022. PS5 Metacritic 86/100. Push Square's 8/10 PS5 review.
I realise in a year of blockbuster PlayStation games like God of War Ragnarok and Horizon Forbidden West that most of my 2022 picks are smaller, and had less impact, but they're a good reflection of my year.
I'm consistent with my retro choices – for example I had Capcom Arcade Stadium in my 2021 list too – plus I've been enjoying retro themed games like the cutesy shoot-'em-up, Cotton Fantasy, and super scaler-esque racer, Slipstream, this year as well.
In any case, I get a lot out of looking back at gaming in the past, and reminiscing about spending time with my family.
I also like playing games that make me feel chilled out – so this was another reason I chose Shenmue III in my 2019 list – and the music and atmosphere in Sonic Frontiers felt so relaxing at times, especially in the initial Open Zone of Kronos Island. Sonic Frontiers' Big the Cat fishing mini-game could've been straight out of something like Shenmue III, anyway.
Many thanks to Push Square, as always, for including me in its 2022 Game of the Year celebrations.
If anyone has any questions about my picks, please copy me in, and wishing a Merry Christmas to you all.
@Ristar24 Cheers for the response, and fair play to you for completing the original arcade Wonder Boy in Monster Land on the Wii's Virtual Console, that's a cool achievement, because the later rounds have been frustrating me, I'm afraid.
Perhaps I wasn't saving the best weapons, armour and items, because I became stuck on a boss called Hob Goblin in Round 8, who kept firing rainbow-like lasers at me. I feel like I'd lost all my best equipment by the time I'd reached Round 8, though.
Your comment here, and your previous message on WAYP have piqued my interest in the Master System conversion of Wonder Boy in Monster Land, because I suspect that the gameplay may have been fine-tuned, and the difficulty hopefully toned down, considering that console releases are generally more forgiving than arcade games, which are designed to grab your credits.
Hopefully I'll get the chance to check out the 8-bit Master System port one day, then.
I appreciate @Robocod replying above to discuss about the extras in this PS4 Wonder Boy Collection, because it gives me the opportunity to elaborate upon points made in my Mini Review to provide greater detail in this comments section.
The Wonder Boy Collection has a simplistic Gallery, the option to Rewind and Fast Forward different gameplay portions to correct your mistakes (you can adapt the speed of the Rewind too), and all four of the games have six save slots each to manage your progress.
Linking back to Turrican Flashback, Wonder Boy Collection's Video Display configuration options are thorough for changing the display ratio and scaling options, but especially for the choices of CRT shader styles. I shared a list detailing the Video Display configurations that have been well appreciated in Ratalaika releases in the comments section of my PS5 Gynoug review, and the same applies here, because Ratalaika Games is mentioned as PS4 Wonder Boy Collection boots-up too.
I still feel that the extras in Wonder Boy Collection are very basic compared to Sonic Origins, because Sonic Origins has an Anniversary Mode, Boss Rush, Mirror Mode, and challenges in a Mission Mode. Its Anniversary Mode also offers the visual choice of 16:9 widescreen presentation.
Sonic Origins has extra cutscenes, and a much more detailed historical Museum, including music and concept art.
There's even a Story Mode that connects the four Sonic games into one continuous adventure, so while there's an argument that Sonic Origins is overpriced at £32.99 for four titles, I personally feel that these features expand the gameplay to the point that Sonic Origins' extras are far superior to the underwhelming additions that the Wonder Boy Collection offers.
@Robocod I like the way you shared your memories of playing the original 1986 Wonder Boy arcade game above too, including the hectic skateboard power-up, and being hounded by the Grim Reaper with his scythe.
Westone's Ryuichi Nishizawa was spot on in describing development of Wonder Boy as creating a feeling of pressure for the player, as it's designed to constantly push you forwards, and I see it as trying to survive for as long as I can.
There are 21 Trophies in the PS4 Wonder Boy Collection, so I used the Rewind feature and the six save slots assigned to each of the four games to push my way to the end of Wonder Boy a few times. Sadly, the pressure was partially unrewarded when the Arcade Master 'Complete the Game Wonder Boy' Trophy didn't unlock, so earning the Platinum is unreachable for me.
Perhaps it's necessary to grab every doll bonus and collect all the letters, so either the Trophy has a glitch, or the collection doesn't specify the parameters needed for unlocking it.
It's a shame that much of the conversation about the Wonder Boy Collection is about it being overpriced and missing key games, because the actual specifics about the fun gameplay in these titles has become a bit sidelined in my Mini Review, I'm afraid.
I noticed that @Ristar24 mentioned in WAYP - Issue 429 about how the Master System's version of Wonder Boy in Monster Land should have been the standard version included in this collection. I would've been intrigued to learn if the gameplay design and challenge is more balanced in the 8-bit console port, because I found the 1987 arcade original of Wonder Boy in Monster Land to be brutally difficult later on, and it often feels unfair the further you progress.
Unfortunately, I only have the unbalanced gameplay from the arcade original as a reference point, as I would've enjoyed being able to discuss specific gameplay differences between the arcade and 8-bit versions.
For me personally regarding missing games, I found the 16-bit era conversions of the 1988 Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair arcade game to be fun, so I'm disappointed I can't play any version of that game in Bliss Brain Corporation's Wonder Boy Collection.
However, leaving out the SEGA Master System's Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (1989) from a collection of Wonder Boy games is the most striking omission, which glaringly makes this compilation incomplete as a representation of the series.
The 'A Westone Retrospective' feature in Retro Gamer Issue 124/Retro Gamer Annual 2015 is a great read, and it rightly lists Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap as a defining game, not just in representing the Wonder Boy series, but from Westone's entire library of releases.
I also think that it's an oversight to not include any Master System games at all in this collection, because I see the Master System as being a key console that's synonymous with the Wonder Boy series.
Below is an overview of the differences between the two main Wonder Boy compilations mentioned in this Mini Review:
Wonder Boy Collection (Bliss Brain Corporation, PS4, £24.99 GBP/$29.99 USD). Available digitally on the PS Store, and via a physical version in shops that's published by ININ Games. The collection's four games are Wonder Boy (1986, Arcade), Wonder Boy in Monster Land (1987, Arcade), Wonder Boy in Monster World (1991, Mega Drive) and Monster World IV (1994, Mega Drive). Released on 3rd June 2022.
Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection (Strictly Limited Games, PS4, €49.99 EUR). The standard physical version was limited to 2000 copies, which have all sold out. The PS4 Collector's Edition for €99.99 EUR is still available. This is a much more comprehensive representation of the series, including 21 versions of a variety of Wonder Boy games, with the list covering Arcade, Game Gear, Master System and Mega Drive releases of the games. See Nintendo Life for the full list of 21 versions available, and note that various examples of Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair and Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap are included in this Strictly Limited Games exclusive. The €49.99 EUR price converts to approximately £43.00 GBP/$52.00 USD, but this doesn't include shipping.
@Amnesiac I agree with you about some of the visuals being difficult to read in Cotton Fantasy, especially during the busier later stages.
I've mentioned before that I prefer the graphics in Cotton Reboot!, because I like its hand-drawn 2D art work more than Cotton Fantasy's blocky polygons, and in general I find the presentation in the reboot to be clearer and tighter to follow.
However, one visual design element in Cotton Reboot! is far worse than Cotton Fantasy, and it's where you achieve very high score multipliers that fill up the screen with huge x1024 icons, which obscure all of the action. These screen restricting icons were really obvious in reboot's Time Attack modes, and when achieving the Trophy where you have to make sure the jewel counter is set to max.
Cheers, too, I was pleased to find out how to hide spoiler information from reading the Push Square forums' General Discussion thread about using Formatting in the comments section. I knew you enjoyed your 2D shooters, so while I realised that not all of Cotton Fantasy's unlockable stages were from Success' shoot-'em-ups, I didn't want to spoil the surprises that were specific to shooters for you.
@Robocod We've actually been discussing this topic since my Turrican Flashback review was published in February last year. Just look at these 2021 quotes from both us below to demonstrate that this is an ongoing dilemma:
My Turrican Flashback review (Tue 2nd Feb 2021): "It's also confusing for retro gamers to have two extra Anthology volumes available from Strictly Limited Games as physical PS4 releases, which are separate to a purchase of Turrican Flashback, as this spreads a greater variety of Turrican games on PS4 over different collections."
Robocod Comment 11 (Tue 2nd Feb 2021): "Would've loved to have bought the Strictly Limited Games, Anthology edition version,but 99 pounds plus postage from Europe for both volumes was way too steep for my budget sadly." This is also taken from the same comment, where you said that you were "Still keen to get it/them...but as the review points out,the pricing/value for money given the lack of content in the digital version is disappointing."
I succumbed eventually, because I bought the standard physical versions of both Turrican Anthology Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, which was expensive for me. Deciding to buy Turrican Anthology Vol. 2 ended up being a consequence of enjoying talking about the Amiga 500 so much with you, as this made me want to have a physical version of the Amiga's Turrican 3 even more.
I still feel that all of these games could've been compiled in one collection, but if retro gamers like me end up buying it anyway, then I guess that the limited number of copies produced makes it a seller's market.
Push Square has contacted me about my next review, which is under embargo, but it looks like this subject is going to continue to be topical well over a year after we first discussed it.
@Robocod Cheers right back at you for your kind comment, as always.
I looked into it, and Cotton Fantasy is still available at Strictly Limited Games as a physical version for both PS4 and Switch.
However, there is another separate Cotton Fantasy physical release with ININ noted as the publisher on its cover listed in a number of online UK shops (Amazon UK, Base, ShopTo and The Game Collection), but while many are cheaper at £28, a number of the sites don't have it in stock, yet.
Hopefully, Australian shoot-'em-up fans have similar options for purchasing a physical version of Cotton Fantasy, and Cotton Reboot! is on sale for a good price on the Aussie PS Store, too.
@Amnesiac Fair play to you, you clearly love your 2D shooters, and you always have quality shoot-'em-up recommendations.
Keep enjoying Cotton Fantasy — my Platinum has just popped, and it turned out to be much more accessible than I realised. I wasn't really Trophy hunting, so I spent a lot of time concentrating on playing as Cotton initially, but it was spending longer with every single character that made the Platinum unlock naturally.
Cotton Fantasy's unlockable shmup themed bonus stages are a really nice homage to Success' history too, like Port City (Cotton), Dandelion Fluff's Hill (Cotton 2), Gemisch ward (Sanvein) and Earth V (Psyvariar) and they're all appreciated.
Have fun with the Toaplan Arcade Garage collection, too.
**** Note that this is the first time I've tried to hide a spoiler message in text on Push Square, so I hope I've done it correctly!
@Dan_ozzzy189 I remember you were talking with @Amnesiac about Deathsmiles I･II releasing on PS4 in the comments section of my PS5 Gynoug review, back in December last year.
City-Connection released it on the UK's PS Store on 15th December 2021 for £32.99, although I didn't buy it digitally.
Following reading your conversation about it, I actually ordered Deathsmiles I･II from Strictly Limited Games instead, but my order is still listed as 'Unfulfilled' at the moment.
@Pusher2021 Cool, I'm glad to hear you got a good PS Store sale price for Cotton Reboot!.
While the chunky 2.5D polygon background visuals in Cotton Fantasy allow for more dynamic locations, like flying battleships and outer space carnage, I personally prefer the modern 2D style of Cotton Reboot!. The reboot's graphics are more consistent with the series' cutesy spooky, fun horror roots, too.
I recommend the Time Attack modes in Cotton Reboot!, as well, which is why I was disappointed that a caravan mode wasn't included in Cotton Fantasy. You can improve your skills quickly by chasing high scores in two or five minute blasts, although amassing screen filling combo icons is visually overwhelming, even more so than when the screen gets hectic in Cotton Fantasy.
If you want a palate cleanser from the remake's screen-filling chaos, it's worth spending time with the 1993 Sharp X68000 conversion of the first Cotton to get that old-school shoot-'em-up feel that you mentioned.
@Amnesiac Cheers mate, I think that the way Studio Saizensen has presented Cotton Fantasy is that they've left the best content slightly hidden, because it's really down to spending time with all of the characters, and unlocking all of the stages that pay homage to themes from Success' previous shoot-'em-ups.
The more time people get to spend with Cotton Fantasy, the more they'll discover that they can play these extra levels in sequence from the map, so it feels like a good chunk of new content by following fresh paths for repeated playthroughs.
I'm really enjoying learning each character — I enjoy grazing bullets with Ria's Buzz System, and grabbing enemies to fire back with Kawase's bazooka — so it's the most fun I've had getting close to a Platinum Trophy in a while.
I think Cotton Reboot! did a better job of presenting it's extra content with the Time Attack modes, though, plus including the X68000 retro title on the game's main menu.
@IonMagi It's great for someone like who is really into retro games and shmups to have access to so many Cotton games on PS4, but I wonder how it appears to someone who is only slightly interested in the genre.
If I was to recommend a Cotton game to a newcomer, I'd say buy Cotton Reboot! while it's half price, especially because I like the inclusion of the X68000 version of the original Cotton.
In some ways I wish that the retro Mega Drive, SNES and Saturn Cotton games that have arrived on PS4 over the last year could have been compiled together as a collection, although I realise this would be complicated due to different publishers releasing games from the series.
It's not hard to sell a game like Cotton Fantasy to me — I enjoy it enough to be tempted to buy a physical copy, even though I received the review code — but a Cotton collection would've been an easier impulse purchase for someone without any experience of the series.
Cotton Fantasy (United Games Entertainment GmbH). Release: 20/5/2022. PS4 £34.99.
Cotton Reboot! (United Games Entertainment GmbH). Release: 25/6/2021. PS4 current sale price £17.49 (should be £34.99). Save 50%, but offer ends 1/6/2022.
Panorama Cotton (United Games Entertainment GmbH). Release: 29/10/2021. PS4 £12.99.
For this Mini Review I've taken into account Push Square's readers who are more generally interested in shoot-'em-ups when considering the £34.99 price tag of Cotton Fantasy, and how it compares to Cotton Reboot!, which is currently on sale at half price on the PS Store until the 1st June.
In my eyes, £34.99 is more tempting for the physical release of Cotton Fantasy rather than buying it digitally, considering that the physical game can already be found for less than £30.
I'm also interested to hear if anyone thinks that releasing six Cotton games within a year on PS4 waters down, or oversaturates the impact of Cotton Fantasy's western launch — even though some of the games have different publishers — for what is essentially an offbeat series in a niche cute-'em-up subgenre.
Ultimately, if you're full-on into horizontal shmups, then Cotton Fantasy is a great purchase, just for the unique mechanics and systems that each character provides, and the unlockable shooter themed stages.
If anyone has any questions about Cotton Fantasy, please send them my way.
@Ristar24 Yep, I'm still enjoying playing my A500 Mini, thanks. Most recently I've been focussing on Alien Breed: Special Edition '92, Project-X and The Chaos Engine.
Apart from PS4 Slipstream — I refer to it as the PS4's Slipstream, because Capcom also had a SEGA System 32 arcade racer called Slip Stream/Slipstream in 1995 — I've been putting most of my spare gaming time into Alien Breed.
This is following last weekend's WAYP, where I've been really appreciating the work of Team17 and Bloober Team on the 2013 PS3 and PS Vita versions of Alien Breed, so I've been focussing on Classic Mode, but it's good to see an Enhanced Mode included, as well.
I think that programmer Steve Monks did great work on this PS3/PS Vita package of the 2D top-down Alien Breed games.
Good luck with your mission to one day beat the final level of Ocean's C64 Platoon, too!
@Ristar24 I just wanted to give you a shout-out here, and say cheers for recommending PS4 Slipstream to me, bud. I especially want to give a nod to your comparison to the impressive scaling effects in SEGA's 1993 arcade game OutRunners, as I mentioned the reference point you made in my WAYP above.
Also, cheers to Sammy for letting me know about this game, because he suggested it after I read his recent Push Square Mini Review.
It was chatting to my mate about the slipstream mechanics in PS3 OutRun Online Arcade — with gameplay as you know that was based on the OutRun 2 series of releases — which was another solid reference point.
It was cool to hear a retro themed racer like Slipstream being mentioned by three separate recommendations. I knew about Blitworks as a publisher already, because of PS4 Fight'N Rage, but I'd not heard of developer Ansdor before, so I've learned something new.
@Mostik Sorry for the late reply, mate, I've been out at the pictures watching Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore today.
Good call on Bullfrog's Amiga version of Syndicate, it had such a detailed and stylised cyberpunk world in 1993, I was always disappointed that the SNES' graphics lost the Amiga's grittier art design, to be replaced by chunky, cartoonish sprites instead.
Nice one back at you for the heads-up about the Evercade magazine too, I didn't even know Evercade Evolution existed until now.
I find it a bit of a dilemma buying new magazines, in general, because I juggle both budget and space, as I currently buy every issue of PLAY, Retro Gamer and Wireframe, so I have to hold myself back from accumulating too many new mags.
One example is that I treated myself to the first PlayStation themed issue of a Kickstarter book called Lock-On — note that the title is stylised as [lock-on] — although I wasn't able to keep supporting it afterwards, because I had other magazine commitments.
I'm tempted by Evercade Evolution, though, as I think it costs £7 RRP to get a sample of its content, since you recommended it here.
@Mostik and @Daleaf — Talking of Amiga Cannon Fodder, I was chuffed to find a magazine called Amiga Addict at my local WHSmith in Liverpool the other week when I bought my A500 Mini, and it has an article called 'Six of the Best with Cam Winstanley' inside.
Cannon Fodder is one of Cam's top six Amiga games, and he reminisces about his days working for Amiga Power magazine, including the anticipation of waiting for Cannon Fodder to arrive (I've included Cam's quote below)
Cam Winstanley (Amiga Addict, Issue 11, page 43): "I remember the game's release being an agonisingly long time coming, partly because I desperately wanted to play it, but partly because Sensible Software graciously drip fed the magazine several unique coverdisk teaser levels. So much has already been said about the game itself that I'll just add that the way it was all built around such intuitive mouse controls was a work of genius. It's also why the subsequent Sega Mega Drive version sucked."
Enjoy combining retro Amiga games with modern PS5 Ghostwire: Tokyo, Mostik, and the mix of playing Elden Ring with watching the snooker, Daleaf.
@Ristar24 The A500 Mini has been more fun than I even hoped, I'm glad that I left it until today for a longer play session, because I would've only been able to dip into playing it when I bought it on its Friday 8th April launch.
My nostalgia is massive for Another World, California Games, Kick Off 2, Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, Stunt Car Racer and Super Cars II, although it was a bit limiting to spend so much time with Kick Off 2, Speedball 2 and Super Cars II as single player games today, because I predominantly played them in multiplayer with my friends and family during their original release.
Returning to Kick Off 2 was easy to pick up again, like riding a bike, but my skills at Amiga California Games have deteriorated over time – especially considering that I used to play the C64 version for hours with my mates in the late 1980s. The A500 Mini's Half Pipe skateboarding event stuttered in California Games more than I remembered, though.
I even enjoyed playing Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension more than I expected, but it's infuriating how Zool uselessly sticks to a wall, but doesn't climb up it, because his wall jump skills are seriously lacking.
Obviously, I'm buzzing from Alien Breed: Special Edition '92 and The Chaos Engine, plus Project-X is a Team17 gem by the Amiga's Euro-style shoot-'em-up standards, too.
Have scary fun playing Tormented Souls, as well as racing fun with Slipstream and Stunt Car Racer, and enjoy the UK's long weekend, mate.
@Tasuki Hi there mate, it's great to hear from you, nice one for responding to me here.
Talking about playing ZAMN on Wii reminds me of the old school Nintendo Life days when I really enjoyed reading Corbie Dillard's separate reviews of both Zombies Ate My Neighbors and Ghoul Patrol, back when they released on Virtual Console in 2009 and 2010 respectively.
The PS4 collection of Zombies Ate My Neighbors and Ghoul Patrol bundled together also includes a 10 minute-ish developer interview, which reminds me of how I appreciated unlockable developer videos in the PS3's Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection (Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection in US region).
@Ristar24 Cheers for the quality information regarding setting up The A500 Mini, because to be honest I'm not very knowledgeable about things like formatting a USB for adding extra games, so sticking to under 32GB to format to FAT32 for the loader to be recognised is a good tip for someone like me.
I stuck to the built-in games for my C64 Mini, so I'll most likely focus on The A500 Mini's integral 25 titles — like you say they represent some of the best games the Amiga had to offer, anyway — but you've helped me if I add any more later on.
I knew about your point regarding setting The A500 Mini to 50Hz output for an accurate refresh rate, because I remember thinking that it must have been a challenge for the developers to adapt Amiga Turrican and Turrican II to run on a PS4 display at 60Hz, back when I reviewed Turrican Flashback.
Also, I'm completely sold on PS4 Slipstream based upon your description of it as, "OutRunners level 2D scaling with a drift model similar to OutRun 2." If Ansdor and Blitworks ever release a physical version, they should put that quote on the box!
I'll play The A500 Mini on the Easter weekend, and I'll be sure to check out Slipstream the weekend after.
@Ristar24 Great retro themed picks, as always. I'm also interested in your two weekend gaming choices.
When I submitted my recent WAYP entry, I mentioned to Sammy that it was cool to see the OutRun and Yu Suzuki references in his recent PS4 Slipstream Mini Review, and he said he thought I'd enjoy that racer.
I bought The A500 Mini from GAME on Friday, as well, complete with a free t-shirt of colourful floppy disks. I even found Issue 11 of a magazine called 'Amiga Addict' in WH Smith, with The A500 Mini on its cover.
The trouble is that I'm out-and-about this weekend — hence I'm typing this incoherent response on my phone — and I don't want to rush my first boot-up of The A500 Mini.
Consequently, PS4 Zombies Ate My Neighbors and Ghoul Patrol at a £4.89 sale price is easy for me to dip my toes into for a quick play when I get home, so I'm going to save The A500 Mini for a lengthier gaming session — which I've been looking forward to for a while — probably during next weekend's WAYP 422.
Enjoy your A500 Mini and Slipstream, though, mate.
@Andee Cool, I'm always up for hearing a Mean Machines shout-out! I had a quick flick through my close-at-hand Mean Machines magazines, but I wasn't able to find the Decap Attack comparison, yet. I did find a Den of Geek feature called Magical Flying Hat Turbo Adventure: The Weird Platformers of Vic Tokai. It's by Ryan Lambie, who is Editor of Wireframe magazine now, and he shares similar memories to you, saying that "I can still recall having a couple of copies of the 90s magazine Mean Machines, comparing the Japanese version's graphics to Decap Attack." Cheers for sharing this, I really like hearing people's retro mag memories.
@Plankton-Warrior Ninja Spirit, Pac-Land and Vigilante are all good examples of early PC Engine games, as all three were released in either 1989 or 1990, I think. I started saving for a PC Engine in 1989, and I wrote a list of possible games to buy, which included all three of those titles. By the time I saved my money, though, I changed my mind and spent it on a Mega Drive instead. Since then I've made sure I bought Pac-Land in the 1996 PS1 compilation Namco Museum Vol. 4, and I've got the TurboGrafx-16 versions of Ninja Spriit and Vigilante on the Wii's Virtual Console. I also bought a PC Engine CoreGrafx Mini to try to compensate for missing out on getting a PC Engine all those years ago, too.
My favourite time in gaming is the early 16-bit era when the release of the PC Engine transitioned into the Mega Drive and then the SNES.
My nostalgia is most pronounced by my memories of becoming interested in importing starting in 1989 when magazines were covering Japanese games, which led to both console gaming and grey imports becoming more prominent in the UK.
@Plankton-Warrior Magical Hat no Buttobi Tābo! Daibōken is such a quality Mega Drive choice for a weekend's gaming!
I booted up my PS3 to play Earthworm Jim HD, like I mentioned here, but I also spent a bit of time playing Decap Attack on the PS3's SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection.
I still quite like Decap Attack, but my nostalgia is more for Magical Hat, with my memories going back to reading about it in Computer and Video Games magazine.
I return to those old mags often, so I re-read the Japanese import review, which scored 84/100 in the March 1991 issue 112 of CVG – meaning that the review is 31 years old now.
I loved the colourful screenshots and anime character design in the double page spread, and for years I called the game Magical Flying Hat Turbo Adventure, because that's what it was called in CVG's review.
@scpnightwing I was reading through the WAYP comments here yesterday to see if anyone else mentioned The Batman, and even though it's no longer the weekend, I thought I'd reply to your comment.
I'm based in Birkenhead, and my brother first told me about The Batman being filmed in Liverpool when he saw the film crew and a helicopter around St George's Hall. Here's a link to an interesting BBC News article called How Liverpool, Glasgow and London helped create Gotham City.
I hope you enjoyed returning to Batman: Arkham Asylum, because I had lots of fun completing a few Most Wanted missions in Batman: Arkham Knight, like the League of Assassins focussed Shadow War.
The Most Wanted side mission called The Perfect Crime, which centred around stopping a creepy, opera singing serial killer, meant Arkham Knight's perpetual rain lashed night-time fitted in well thematically with watching The Batman, and both harked back to my memories of reading The Long Halloween.
I've got my eye on Strictly Limited Games' physical release of the Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection, as it's actually selling faster than I anticipated.
We're on the same page with our retro interests, because I'm also regularly checking on Strictly Limited's physical version of Turrican Anthology Vol. 2, because I'm intrigued about the Amiga version of Turrican 3.
In regards to the PlayStation Indies sale until the 23rd March, in the latest Load 230 issue of Retro Gamer there is a 'Retro Inspired' feature on the pixel art Metroidvania game Aggelos, which is currently a whopping 75% off at £3.24, when it should be £12.99.
The only thing I'm conscious about is watching my pennies a bit, because I want to get the A500 Mini fairly soon after it releases – this is considering that the A500 Mini is listed as either releasing in March or April in different shops in the UK.
@Robocod I reviewed for Push Square two out of the five Cotton games that released on PS4 in 2021 (Cotton Reboot! and Mega Drive Panorama Cotton), and you're good to go with both games' performance if you decide to buy either of them – they're both only on PS4 and not on PS5 unfortunately, though.
Cotton Reboot! was solid from its release, and Panorama Cotton was patched, so just make sure you're playing the Version 1.01 update of the Mega Drive port.
Cotton Reboot! has 38% off to cost £21.69 in the PlayStation Indies sale in the UK, but its original price of £34.99 is admittedly at the higher end of shoot-'em-up games.
I enjoyed Cotton Reboot! enough to purchase a physical copy after I reviewed it, if that helps.
I've also included three especially cheap retro games below, which are tempting in the PlayStation Indies sale, so we have until Wednesday 23rd March to decide upon a spending spree
@Metalder Fair play, the more that people talk about Cannon-Dancer/Osman the more that spreading the word will keep some sort of hope for a port of it to modern consoles, although I'm not sure who has the rights to games by Mitchell Corporation today.
The 1989 arcade version of Strider is one of my favourite games in all my time gaming, especially since I imported the impressive Japanese Mega Drive conversion when it released in 1990. I've bought Strider on as many collections as possible since then.
Kouichi Yotsui was not the designer or director on that many games, but his work on both Strider and Cannon-Dancer makes him a legendary Japanese game creator in my eyes.
I know that Yotsui considered Cannon-Dancer to be a spiritual sequel to Strider, so I'm glad he got the chance to explore similar 2D design for Mitchell Corporation with the advances in arcade technology seven years later in 1996. It was cool that Yotsui was the game director on Moon Diver for PS3 in 2011, too.
Never say never, I guess I'll keep my fingers crossed that Cannon-Dancer/Osman is re-released on PS4 or PS5 one day.
I've been really enjoying my PS Vita recently, because I've been focussing on playing pixel art indie, and retro games for each WAYP during the quiet early months of 2022.
Reading all of these comments reminds me of the PS Vita's exclusive games, so I've listed some of my favourites below, which either became multi platform later on, or are fun examples of Vita-only titles.
Note that I haven't played all of these releases, so they're either my personal picks, or games I'd like to check out for Vita's February 2022 10th birthday in AU, EU, NA etc.
Selection of Cool PS Vita Exclusive Games (Only on Vita)
I also had lots of fun playing the Vita version of Sumo Digital's Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed when it released in 2012, and I've fond memories of first checking out Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate when I went to the Eurogamer Expo at Earls Court, which I think was in 2013.
@PegasusActual93 It's good to hear Ion Fury didn't crash and held a smooth frame-rate for you, perhaps it received a patch after the Push Square review was published, so it could be beneficial for me to check out an updated version of the game.
You've certainly piqued my interest, I've just checked into it, and there's a physical PS4 version of Ion Fury too, which is only £14.99.
@PegasusActual93 I remember my cousin showing me DOOM on his PC when it was first released as shareware. I was well into console gaming during the height of the SNES' heyday at the time, but DOOM blew my socks off with its 3D graphics on a home desktop system.
I'll have a read of Graham Banas' Push Square Ion Fury review now, and I'll make a note to check it out in the future.
I've enjoyed many Housemarque games, from Super Stardust HD on PS3 — which my friend once showed to me in cool looking stereoscopic 3D — through to Resogun as an impressive launch PS4 game. I even played Resogun on PS Vita.
For some reason I had it in my head that Nex Machina was a multiplayer focussed game, but I've just had a quick read of Sammy Barker's 9/10 scoring review, and it sounds like a gem, just like you described. Cheers, mate!
@GalacticBreakdown Yep, Capcom Arcade Stadium only has Bronze Trophies, and many of them are such a grind, I wouldn't recommend to anyone to play this collection to target Trophies.
I've unlocked 80% progress so far, but by naturally just repeatedly playing the 32 retro arcade games available. Both the 'Play for at least 100 hours', and the 'Play any of the games a total of 1000 times' Bronze Trophies are currently Ultra Rare (0.1% of players earned).
Capcom Arcade Stadium's miserly approach is the opposite of 2021 retro releases like Gleylancer, Gynoug, or even Panorama Cotton, which all hand out a Platinum Trophy for less than one hour of play.
@Mostik Nice shout-out for the Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol.1, I bought a physical version of it on Switch from Limited Run Games.
Talking of memories, I got the Neo Geo Pocket Color during its UK launch, so I took it with me backpacking around Australia — I even used it as an alarm clock. I had games like Metal Slug 1st Mission, and Neo Turf Masters already, plus my girlfriend brought me SNK Vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium as a gift when she visited me in Oz for a few months.
I'd happily buy that collection again if it released on PS4 or PS5.
@Amnesiac I thought the presentation of the candy cabinets, all sat in chronological order, and zooming into the screen to play each arcade game was excellent menu design in Capcom Arcade Stadium, too. I also found earning CASPO strangely addictive, especially when it was from the specific parameters set by the Special Challenge that changes between each game.
I should get the 'Play for at least 100 hours' and 'Play any of the games a total of 1000 times' Bronze Trophies in Capcom Arcade Stadium soon enough, but Capcom need to be less stingy with the Trophies they offer in the next collection!
I hope you enjoy Turrican Flashback, as well. If you've got strong memories of playing Super Turrican, then I think you're going to love Mega Turrican – especially if you haven't played it before. Mega Turrican is like a cross between the Euro-style of home computer Turrican games, but with the console amped up set-pieces of a 16-bit Contra game. It's a really fantastic Mega Drive run-and-gun title.
@Th3solution Thanks for the recommendations! He's already completed Red Dead Redemption 2, but I'll pass on the other games you've mentioned, because he'll appreciate it.
I just want to give a quick honourable mention to Assassin's Creed Valhalla on PS5, even though it released in 2020, because it was actually my most played PS5 game of 2021 with almost 100 hours invested in it this year.
I found it relaxing exploring the lush countryside environments, and I played it in tandem with my stepdad, so we bonded over discussing the Wrath of the Druids, The Siege of Paris, and the A Fated Encounter 2021 expansions, as well as embarking on River Raids.
My stepdad loves games with a historical context, and we're both fans of the Vikings TV series, so Assassin's Creed Valhalla inspired me to buy him PS5 Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut for Christmas.
Comments 400
Re: Mini Review: Flashback 2 (PS5) - Disastrously Buggy Sequel Diminishes 1992 Classic
I mention in my Mini Review that Flashback 2 doesn't even try to be a traditional cinematic platforming game, so it doesn't have any of the subgenre's qualities to satisfy fans of Another World and the original Flashback.
Unlike Flashback 2, these retro games didn't hold the hand of the player with an overabundance of hints from characters, and they never removed the challenge by dropping you back to the exact same spot after every death.
I was initially excited to review Flashback 2, but I now wish that Microids had included stricter 2D or 2.5D presentation, ideally with something akin to rotoscoping, as well as platforming and puzzles that expanded upon the genre.
My main concern is that younger gamers and people who don't have much experience with cinematic platformers will now have the impression that Flashback is a poor-quality gaming series, so the reputation of the original 1992 game has become worse due to this sequel's deficiencies, in my opinion.
One quick shout-out too, because my tagline was built upon Sammy's subheading from his news article, Flashback 2 Floods Gamescom with a Meaty PS5, PS4 Gameplay Trailer. It was Sammy who first wrote the 'Lookin' Conrad' pun, so I send credit to him for using it here.
If anyone has any questions about Flashback 2, I will keep an eye on the comments. Cheers, everyone.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 466
@somnambulance I'm already keeping a list of games released this year that I buy, so I've got a better idea of my Game of the Year picks when December rolls around.
I've only bought PS5 Dead Space and PS4/PS5 Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider as new 2023 games so far, although I'm interested in Grim Guardians: Demon Purge.
I'm going to keep my eye on people's impressions of Grim Guardians whenever I can, although since it's a Castlevania: Symphony of the Night-esque Metroidvania game, I'm only going to buy it when I've at least a straight, three hour stretch to play its opening, and to get an idea of its initial progression. I like to absorb myself in a Metroidvania title, rather than dip into it like I would an arcade game.
I've ended up buying PS4 Dead Cells for the second time, because like you say, I don't want to miss on the Return to Castlevania DLC this Monday, too.
I don't mind a double purchase too much, as I've ordered the Dead Cells 'Action Game of the Year' PS4 version, and I'm hoping that by buying it from an eBay shop that it still adds to Motion Twin's sales, because I like to support indie developers wherever possible.
I also hope it has the Rise of the Giant DLC included on the actual disc, which will be handy in twenty years if the PS4's PS Store ever disappears!
Once I find my previous, spare copy of Dead Cells, I'll gift it to a friend or family.
It sounds like you've got a few options of games to play at the moment, so enjoy a possible variety of gaming this weekend, mate.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 465
@Total_Weirdo In that case you could change your username to Total_GOWeirdo, just while you're jumping between the two GOW acronym series of games.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 464
@Ristar24 I stated above that I'm interested in the year that retro games were released, and one reason for this is the context of console hardware capabilities of the time.
For example, I said that arcade Street Fighter Alpha 2 released in February 1996, so its release was still relevant in regards to the technical transition from the 16-bit to the 32-bit eras.
You mentioned importing Street Fighter Alpha 2 for your Saturn, and my understanding is that SEGA's 32-bit machine was already showcasing advantages in extra animation frames when compared to the still decent PS1 port.
If you have a moment to check out Nintendo Life's Wii Virtual Console review of SNES Street Fighter Alpha 2 — a review by Corbie Dillard, who was an excellent retro writer during the earlier years of NLife — you could scan through to Comment 10 from December 2009, where I praised the SNES conversion for providing a noble 16-bit effort at replicating a technically complicated arcade game, comparatively speaking.
In more modern gaming language — partially due to the current technical capabilities of the Switch when compared to the PS4 and PS5 behemoths — it would be called an 'Impossible Port'.
Sticking to Capcom's Alpha/Zero series, I also remember being amazed at Crawfish Interactive's Game Boy Advance conversion of Street Fighter Alpha 3, which was another 'Impossible Port' from the history books (note that this link is to a Dave Frear review, who's a great NLife retro reviewer, too).
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 463
@Ristar24 Sorry for such a late reply, I spend a lot of time caring for the elderly in my family, so it's an especially hectic time for me at the moment.
I've been especially loving the extra features in Sonic Origins. I think it'd be great if other developers of collections became inspired by how its Story Mode creates a flow throughout a classic series by showing new opening and ending animations, and developers also put more effort into including worthwhile additions like its Boss Rush, Mission Mode challenges and especially the reverse perspective of Mirror Mode.
I spent a lot of time with Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure, it acts as an homage of the Mega Drive Sonic games in some ways, and it's a great looking game for the Neo Geo Pocket Color, although it understandably doesn't have fancy effects like parallax scrolling.
I hope you had lots of fun playing Metroid Prime Remastered. Back in November 2002 I imported Metroid Prime for my US GameCube, and I thought it was so amazing that I convinced my friend to swap his Xbox with my GameCube for a few weeks, so that he could complete Metroid Prime while I finished Halo: Combat Evolved.
Just as a heads up, even though you kindly copied my name into your comment, your message never reached either my email or my Push Square notifications, although I don't know if it was because my name was copied into you comment in the second paragraph down.
I always appreciate chatting with you about retro games, so as long as you don't mind getting a late reply like this, I'll try my best to respond even if it's further down the line.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 461
@Tasuki Christmas time games can result in such lasting memories, especially with something as high quality as Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master. Like you say, it's such a great game, and I consider it in the top-tier of ninja games from the 16-bit era, alongside classics like Strider.
I regularly play Shinobi III via the PSP's SEGA Mega Drive Collection, which has a permanent place on my PS Vita.
My nostalgia is also through the roof for its predecessor, the Japanese release of The Super Shinobi, as I repeatedly read about it in magazines in 1989 and 1990, and I spent time mastering its awkward somersault double jump, plus I love Yuzo Koshiro's soundtrack to this day.
Have lots of fun playing GoldenEye, because it sounds like you're making new memories from playing a retro game with your family and friends this weekend.
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2022
@Flaming_Kaiser Yes, I agree, it's great to hear different gamers share their thoughts about the variety of 2022 releases that have been gems to them.
Just two examples that I was recently reading about, which caught my attention from Push Square's recent Game of the Year coverage, were both Simon Fitzgerald's third pick of Tunic, and how OlliOlli World received the Gold Trophy in Push Square's Best PS5, PS4 Indie Game of 2022 list.
When I read about how other gamers are passionate about their personal favourites – whether it's an article by the team, or comments by the readers – it makes me want to make a note of fun sounding games to check them out later myself.
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2022
@somnambulance It sounds like you have a good friend, who was able to give you tips about how to effectively respec your character, but in a way that really benefitted your progress. Good on him!
I agree that there's a lot of gratification to be found in learning from your mistakes in Elden Ring.
Your comment makes me think that our personal Game of the Year choices are not just about our favourite games from 2022, but it's the standout moments that makes these games so memorable.
This quote from your comment above epitomises that idea, I thought Elden Ring sounded really fulfilling when you described it as, "I actually dropped the controller and applauded at the screen after the last boss." Great stuff!
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2022
@Amnesiac You're right, 2022 was definitely a fantastic year for retro gaming, and Cotton Fantasy deserves an honourable mention amongst my 2022 Game of the Year picks. I really enjoyed discussing with you back in May about how you could unlock bonus stages in Cotton Fantasy, which were themed around Success' previous shoot-'em-ups. I always appreciate chats like that about retro games.
As far as the paltry four games in June's Wonder Boy Collection are concerned — especially with the recent news that the superior Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection will release digitally on PS4 and PS5 from 26th January, 2023 with 21 versions of Wonder Boy games – I just hope that these staggered digital and physical releases of the same titles doesn't become a standard approach by retro gaming publishers.
People already feel messed around with Turrican Flashback having so few games compared to Strictly Limited Games' various Turrican anthologies, especially as those Anthology volumes were also released digitally later on.
It can't feel satisfying to a retro gamer who feels pressured into buying a more expensive and expansive physical collection, just because its superior physical release is so limited, and then six months later the larger compilation is available cheaper digitally, anyway.
On a brighter note, thank you lots for all of your input about retro gaming in the comments on Push Square, mate. Wishing all the best to you!
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2022
@somnambulance and @Nf157 – Nice one to you both, I guess playing Elden Ring all wrong is the new way to play it right, then. What kind of Tarnished wanderer needs a guidance of grace anyway!
Also to Nf157, six player online Arcade Mode sessions of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge were radical indeed, it was the best kind of chaotic fun earlier this year. The amount of sprites on screen were pure carnage, and having five other buddies to back you up makes the Gnarly difficulty setting much more approachable too.
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2022
Below are eight notable retro collections, which were all released in 2022, to illustrate how this year was excellent for compilations of old games on PS4 and PS5:
There are heaps of cracking retro games in these eight collections. Good job 2022!
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2022
I realise in a year of blockbuster PlayStation games like God of War Ragnarok and Horizon Forbidden West that most of my 2022 picks are smaller, and had less impact, but they're a good reflection of my year.
I'm consistent with my retro choices – for example I had Capcom Arcade Stadium in my 2021 list too – plus I've been enjoying retro themed games like the cutesy shoot-'em-up, Cotton Fantasy, and super scaler-esque racer, Slipstream, this year as well.
In any case, I get a lot out of looking back at gaming in the past, and reminiscing about spending time with my family.
I also like playing games that make me feel chilled out – so this was another reason I chose Shenmue III in my 2019 list – and the music and atmosphere in Sonic Frontiers felt so relaxing at times, especially in the initial Open Zone of Kronos Island. Sonic Frontiers' Big the Cat fishing mini-game could've been straight out of something like Shenmue III, anyway.
Many thanks to Push Square, as always, for including me in its 2022 Game of the Year celebrations.
If anyone has any questions about my picks, please copy me in, and wishing a Merry Christmas to you all.
Re: Mini Review: Wonder Boy Collection (PS4) - Two Arcade and Two Mega Drive Games, But Questionable Value
@Ristar24 Cheers for the response, and fair play to you for completing the original arcade Wonder Boy in Monster Land on the Wii's Virtual Console, that's a cool achievement, because the later rounds have been frustrating me, I'm afraid.
Perhaps I wasn't saving the best weapons, armour and items, because I became stuck on a boss called Hob Goblin in Round 8, who kept firing rainbow-like lasers at me. I feel like I'd lost all my best equipment by the time I'd reached Round 8, though.
Your comment here, and your previous message on WAYP have piqued my interest in the Master System conversion of Wonder Boy in Monster Land, because I suspect that the gameplay may have been fine-tuned, and the difficulty hopefully toned down, considering that console releases are generally more forgiving than arcade games, which are designed to grab your credits.
Hopefully I'll get the chance to check out the 8-bit Master System port one day, then.
Re: Mini Review: Wonder Boy Collection (PS4) - Two Arcade and Two Mega Drive Games, But Questionable Value
I appreciate @Robocod replying above to discuss about the extras in this PS4 Wonder Boy Collection, because it gives me the opportunity to elaborate upon points made in my Mini Review to provide greater detail in this comments section.
The Wonder Boy Collection has a simplistic Gallery, the option to Rewind and Fast Forward different gameplay portions to correct your mistakes (you can adapt the speed of the Rewind too), and all four of the games have six save slots each to manage your progress.
Linking back to Turrican Flashback, Wonder Boy Collection's Video Display configuration options are thorough for changing the display ratio and scaling options, but especially for the choices of CRT shader styles. I shared a list detailing the Video Display configurations that have been well appreciated in Ratalaika releases in the comments section of my PS5 Gynoug review, and the same applies here, because Ratalaika Games is mentioned as PS4 Wonder Boy Collection boots-up too.
I still feel that the extras in Wonder Boy Collection are very basic compared to Sonic Origins, because Sonic Origins has an Anniversary Mode, Boss Rush, Mirror Mode, and challenges in a Mission Mode. Its Anniversary Mode also offers the visual choice of 16:9 widescreen presentation.
Sonic Origins has extra cutscenes, and a much more detailed historical Museum, including music and concept art.
There's even a Story Mode that connects the four Sonic games into one continuous adventure, so while there's an argument that Sonic Origins is overpriced at £32.99 for four titles, I personally feel that these features expand the gameplay to the point that Sonic Origins' extras are far superior to the underwhelming additions that the Wonder Boy Collection offers.
Re: Mini Review: Wonder Boy Collection (PS4) - Two Arcade and Two Mega Drive Games, But Questionable Value
@Robocod I like the way you shared your memories of playing the original 1986 Wonder Boy arcade game above too, including the hectic skateboard power-up, and being hounded by the Grim Reaper with his scythe.
Westone's Ryuichi Nishizawa was spot on in describing development of Wonder Boy as creating a feeling of pressure for the player, as it's designed to constantly push you forwards, and I see it as trying to survive for as long as I can.
There are 21 Trophies in the PS4 Wonder Boy Collection, so I used the Rewind feature and the six save slots assigned to each of the four games to push my way to the end of Wonder Boy a few times. Sadly, the pressure was partially unrewarded when the Arcade Master 'Complete the Game Wonder Boy' Trophy didn't unlock, so earning the Platinum is unreachable for me.
Perhaps it's necessary to grab every doll bonus and collect all the letters, so either the Trophy has a glitch, or the collection doesn't specify the parameters needed for unlocking it.
It's a shame that much of the conversation about the Wonder Boy Collection is about it being overpriced and missing key games, because the actual specifics about the fun gameplay in these titles has become a bit sidelined in my Mini Review, I'm afraid.
I noticed that @Ristar24 mentioned in WAYP - Issue 429 about how the Master System's version of Wonder Boy in Monster Land should have been the standard version included in this collection. I would've been intrigued to learn if the gameplay design and challenge is more balanced in the 8-bit console port, because I found the 1987 arcade original of Wonder Boy in Monster Land to be brutally difficult later on, and it often feels unfair the further you progress.
Unfortunately, I only have the unbalanced gameplay from the arcade original as a reference point, as I would've enjoyed being able to discuss specific gameplay differences between the arcade and 8-bit versions.
Re: Mini Review: Wonder Boy Collection (PS4) - Two Arcade and Two Mega Drive Games, But Questionable Value
For me personally regarding missing games, I found the 16-bit era conversions of the 1988 Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair arcade game to be fun, so I'm disappointed I can't play any version of that game in Bliss Brain Corporation's Wonder Boy Collection.
However, leaving out the SEGA Master System's Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (1989) from a collection of Wonder Boy games is the most striking omission, which glaringly makes this compilation incomplete as a representation of the series.
The 'A Westone Retrospective' feature in Retro Gamer Issue 124/Retro Gamer Annual 2015 is a great read, and it rightly lists Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap as a defining game, not just in representing the Wonder Boy series, but from Westone's entire library of releases.
I also think that it's an oversight to not include any Master System games at all in this collection, because I see the Master System as being a key console that's synonymous with the Wonder Boy series.
Below is an overview of the differences between the two main Wonder Boy compilations mentioned in this Mini Review:
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 428
@Amnesiac I agree with you about some of the visuals being difficult to read in Cotton Fantasy, especially during the busier later stages.
I've mentioned before that I prefer the graphics in Cotton Reboot!, because I like its hand-drawn 2D art work more than Cotton Fantasy's blocky polygons, and in general I find the presentation in the reboot to be clearer and tighter to follow.
However, one visual design element in Cotton Reboot! is far worse than Cotton Fantasy, and it's where you achieve very high score multipliers that fill up the screen with huge x1024 icons, which obscure all of the action. These screen restricting icons were really obvious in reboot's Time Attack modes, and when achieving the Trophy where you have to make sure the jewel counter is set to max.
Cheers, too, I was pleased to find out how to hide spoiler information from reading the Push Square forums' General Discussion thread about using Formatting in the comments section. I knew you enjoyed your 2D shooters, so while I realised that not all of Cotton Fantasy's unlockable stages were from Success' shoot-'em-ups, I didn't want to spoil the surprises that were specific to shooters for you.
Re: Mini Review: Cotton Fantasy (PS4) - The Shoot-'Em-Up Fan's Cute-'Em-Up
@Robocod We've actually been discussing this topic since my Turrican Flashback review was published in February last year. Just look at these 2021 quotes from both us below to demonstrate that this is an ongoing dilemma:
I succumbed eventually, because I bought the standard physical versions of both Turrican Anthology Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, which was expensive for me. Deciding to buy Turrican Anthology Vol. 2 ended up being a consequence of enjoying talking about the Amiga 500 so much with you, as this made me want to have a physical version of the Amiga's Turrican 3 even more.
I still feel that all of these games could've been compiled in one collection, but if retro gamers like me end up buying it anyway, then I guess that the limited number of copies produced makes it a seller's market.
Push Square has contacted me about my next review, which is under embargo, but it looks like this subject is going to continue to be topical well over a year after we first discussed it.
Re: Mini Review: Cotton Fantasy (PS4) - The Shoot-'Em-Up Fan's Cute-'Em-Up
@Robocod Cheers right back at you for your kind comment, as always.
I looked into it, and Cotton Fantasy is still available at Strictly Limited Games as a physical version for both PS4 and Switch.
However, there is another separate Cotton Fantasy physical release with ININ noted as the publisher on its cover listed in a number of online UK shops (Amazon UK, Base, ShopTo and The Game Collection), but while many are cheaper at £28, a number of the sites don't have it in stock, yet.
Hopefully, Australian shoot-'em-up fans have similar options for purchasing a physical version of Cotton Fantasy, and Cotton Reboot! is on sale for a good price on the Aussie PS Store, too.
Re: Mini Review: Cotton Fantasy (PS4) - The Shoot-'Em-Up Fan's Cute-'Em-Up
@Amnesiac Fair play to you, you clearly love your 2D shooters, and you always have quality shoot-'em-up recommendations.
Keep enjoying Cotton Fantasy — my Platinum has just popped, and it turned out to be much more accessible than I realised. I wasn't really Trophy hunting, so I spent a lot of time concentrating on playing as Cotton initially, but it was spending longer with every single character that made the Platinum unlock naturally.
Cotton Fantasy's unlockable shmup themed bonus stages are a really nice homage to Success' history too, like Port City (Cotton), Dandelion Fluff's Hill (Cotton 2), Gemisch ward (Sanvein) and Earth V (Psyvariar) and they're all appreciated.
Have fun with the Toaplan Arcade Garage collection, too.
**** Note that this is the first time I've tried to hide a spoiler message in text on Push Square, so I hope I've done it correctly!
Re: Mini Review: Cotton Fantasy (PS4) - The Shoot-'Em-Up Fan's Cute-'Em-Up
@Dan_ozzzy189 I remember you were talking with @Amnesiac about Deathsmiles I･II releasing on PS4 in the comments section of my PS5 Gynoug review, back in December last year.
City-Connection released it on the UK's PS Store on 15th December 2021 for £32.99, although I didn't buy it digitally.
Following reading your conversation about it, I actually ordered Deathsmiles I･II from Strictly Limited Games instead, but my order is still listed as 'Unfulfilled' at the moment.
Re: Mini Review: Cotton Fantasy (PS4) - The Shoot-'Em-Up Fan's Cute-'Em-Up
@Pusher2021 Cool, I'm glad to hear you got a good PS Store sale price for Cotton Reboot!.
While the chunky 2.5D polygon background visuals in Cotton Fantasy allow for more dynamic locations, like flying battleships and outer space carnage, I personally prefer the modern 2D style of Cotton Reboot!. The reboot's graphics are more consistent with the series' cutesy spooky, fun horror roots, too.
I recommend the Time Attack modes in Cotton Reboot!, as well, which is why I was disappointed that a caravan mode wasn't included in Cotton Fantasy. You can improve your skills quickly by chasing high scores in two or five minute blasts, although amassing screen filling combo icons is visually overwhelming, even more so than when the screen gets hectic in Cotton Fantasy.
If you want a palate cleanser from the remake's screen-filling chaos, it's worth spending time with the 1993 Sharp X68000 conversion of the first Cotton to get that old-school shoot-'em-up feel that you mentioned.
Re: Mini Review: Cotton Fantasy (PS4) - The Shoot-'Em-Up Fan's Cute-'Em-Up
@Amnesiac Cheers mate, I think that the way Studio Saizensen has presented Cotton Fantasy is that they've left the best content slightly hidden, because it's really down to spending time with all of the characters, and unlocking all of the stages that pay homage to themes from Success' previous shoot-'em-ups.
The more time people get to spend with Cotton Fantasy, the more they'll discover that they can play these extra levels in sequence from the map, so it feels like a good chunk of new content by following fresh paths for repeated playthroughs.
I'm really enjoying learning each character — I enjoy grazing bullets with Ria's Buzz System, and grabbing enemies to fire back with Kawase's bazooka — so it's the most fun I've had getting close to a Platinum Trophy in a while.
I think Cotton Reboot! did a better job of presenting it's extra content with the Time Attack modes, though, plus including the X68000 retro title on the game's main menu.
Re: Mini Review: Cotton Fantasy (PS4) - The Shoot-'Em-Up Fan's Cute-'Em-Up
@IonMagi It's great for someone like who is really into retro games and shmups to have access to so many Cotton games on PS4, but I wonder how it appears to someone who is only slightly interested in the genre.
If I was to recommend a Cotton game to a newcomer, I'd say buy Cotton Reboot! while it's half price, especially because I like the inclusion of the X68000 version of the original Cotton.
In some ways I wish that the retro Mega Drive, SNES and Saturn Cotton games that have arrived on PS4 over the last year could have been compiled together as a collection, although I realise this would be complicated due to different publishers releasing games from the series.
It's not hard to sell a game like Cotton Fantasy to me — I enjoy it enough to be tempted to buy a physical copy, even though I received the review code — but a Cotton collection would've been an easier impulse purchase for someone without any experience of the series.
Re: Mini Review: Cotton Fantasy (PS4) - The Shoot-'Em-Up Fan's Cute-'Em-Up
Below are the six Cotton games that have released on PS4 since 2021, with UK prices:
For this Mini Review I've taken into account Push Square's readers who are more generally interested in shoot-'em-ups when considering the £34.99 price tag of Cotton Fantasy, and how it compares to Cotton Reboot!, which is currently on sale at half price on the PS Store until the 1st June.
In my eyes, £34.99 is more tempting for the physical release of Cotton Fantasy rather than buying it digitally, considering that the physical game can already be found for less than £30.
I'm also interested to hear if anyone thinks that releasing six Cotton games within a year on PS4 waters down, or oversaturates the impact of Cotton Fantasy's western launch — even though some of the games have different publishers — for what is essentially an offbeat series in a niche cute-'em-up subgenre.
Ultimately, if you're full-on into horizontal shmups, then Cotton Fantasy is a great purchase, just for the unique mechanics and systems that each character provides, and the unlockable shooter themed stages.
If anyone has any questions about Cotton Fantasy, please send them my way.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 423
@Ristar24 Yep, I'm still enjoying playing my A500 Mini, thanks. Most recently I've been focussing on Alien Breed: Special Edition '92, Project-X and The Chaos Engine.
Apart from PS4 Slipstream — I refer to it as the PS4's Slipstream, because Capcom also had a SEGA System 32 arcade racer called Slip Stream/Slipstream in 1995 — I've been putting most of my spare gaming time into Alien Breed.
This is following last weekend's WAYP, where I've been really appreciating the work of Team17 and Bloober Team on the 2013 PS3 and PS Vita versions of Alien Breed, so I've been focussing on Classic Mode, but it's good to see an Enhanced Mode included, as well.
I think that programmer Steve Monks did great work on this PS3/PS Vita package of the 2D top-down Alien Breed games.
Good luck with your mission to one day beat the final level of Ocean's C64 Platoon, too!
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 423
@Ristar24 I just wanted to give you a shout-out here, and say cheers for recommending PS4 Slipstream to me, bud. I especially want to give a nod to your comparison to the impressive scaling effects in SEGA's 1993 arcade game OutRunners, as I mentioned the reference point you made in my WAYP above.
Also, cheers to Sammy for letting me know about this game, because he suggested it after I read his recent Push Square Mini Review.
It was chatting to my mate about the slipstream mechanics in PS3 OutRun Online Arcade — with gameplay as you know that was based on the OutRun 2 series of releases — which was another solid reference point.
It was cool to hear a retro themed racer like Slipstream being mentioned by three separate recommendations. I knew about Blitworks as a publisher already, because of PS4 Fight'N Rage, but I'd not heard of developer Ansdor before, so I've learned something new.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 422
@Mostik Sorry for the late reply, mate, I've been out at the pictures watching Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore today.
Good call on Bullfrog's Amiga version of Syndicate, it had such a detailed and stylised cyberpunk world in 1993, I was always disappointed that the SNES' graphics lost the Amiga's grittier art design, to be replaced by chunky, cartoonish sprites instead.
Nice one back at you for the heads-up about the Evercade magazine too, I didn't even know Evercade Evolution existed until now.
I find it a bit of a dilemma buying new magazines, in general, because I juggle both budget and space, as I currently buy every issue of PLAY, Retro Gamer and Wireframe, so I have to hold myself back from accumulating too many new mags.
One example is that I treated myself to the first PlayStation themed issue of a Kickstarter book called Lock-On — note that the title is stylised as [lock-on] — although I wasn't able to keep supporting it afterwards, because I had other magazine commitments.
I'm tempted by Evercade Evolution, though, as I think it costs £7 RRP to get a sample of its content, since you recommended it here.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 422
@Mostik and @Daleaf — Talking of Amiga Cannon Fodder, I was chuffed to find a magazine called Amiga Addict at my local WHSmith in Liverpool the other week when I bought my A500 Mini, and it has an article called 'Six of the Best with Cam Winstanley' inside.
Cannon Fodder is one of Cam's top six Amiga games, and he reminisces about his days working for Amiga Power magazine, including the anticipation of waiting for Cannon Fodder to arrive (I've included Cam's quote below)
Enjoy combining retro Amiga games with modern PS5 Ghostwire: Tokyo, Mostik, and the mix of playing Elden Ring with watching the snooker, Daleaf.
Have a good bank holiday weekend, both of you!
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 422
@Ristar24 The A500 Mini has been more fun than I even hoped, I'm glad that I left it until today for a longer play session, because I would've only been able to dip into playing it when I bought it on its Friday 8th April launch.
My nostalgia is massive for Another World, California Games, Kick Off 2, Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, Stunt Car Racer and Super Cars II, although it was a bit limiting to spend so much time with Kick Off 2, Speedball 2 and Super Cars II as single player games today, because I predominantly played them in multiplayer with my friends and family during their original release.
Returning to Kick Off 2 was easy to pick up again, like riding a bike, but my skills at Amiga California Games have deteriorated over time – especially considering that I used to play the C64 version for hours with my mates in the late 1980s. The A500 Mini's Half Pipe skateboarding event stuttered in California Games more than I remembered, though.
I even enjoyed playing Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension more than I expected, but it's infuriating how Zool uselessly sticks to a wall, but doesn't climb up it, because his wall jump skills are seriously lacking.
Obviously, I'm buzzing from Alien Breed: Special Edition '92 and The Chaos Engine, plus Project-X is a Team17 gem by the Amiga's Euro-style shoot-'em-up standards, too.
Have scary fun playing Tormented Souls, as well as racing fun with Slipstream and Stunt Car Racer, and enjoy the UK's long weekend, mate.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 421
@Ristar24 I meant to say that Nintendo Life published their A500 Mini review today, as well.
Here's a link for you:
Review: A500 Mini - A Refreshing Alternative To The NES And SNES Classic Editions
Cheers again!
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 421
@Tasuki Hi there mate, it's great to hear from you, nice one for responding to me here.
Talking about playing ZAMN on Wii reminds me of the old school Nintendo Life days when I really enjoyed reading Corbie Dillard's separate reviews of both Zombies Ate My Neighbors and Ghoul Patrol, back when they released on Virtual Console in 2009 and 2010 respectively.
The PS4 collection of Zombies Ate My Neighbors and Ghoul Patrol bundled together also includes a 10 minute-ish developer interview, which reminds me of how I appreciated unlockable developer videos in the PS3's Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection (Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection in US region).
Take care, bud!
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 421
@Ristar24 Cheers for the quality information regarding setting up The A500 Mini, because to be honest I'm not very knowledgeable about things like formatting a USB for adding extra games, so sticking to under 32GB to format to FAT32 for the loader to be recognised is a good tip for someone like me.
I stuck to the built-in games for my C64 Mini, so I'll most likely focus on The A500 Mini's integral 25 titles — like you say they represent some of the best games the Amiga had to offer, anyway — but you've helped me if I add any more later on.
I knew about your point regarding setting The A500 Mini to 50Hz output for an accurate refresh rate, because I remember thinking that it must have been a challenge for the developers to adapt Amiga Turrican and Turrican II to run on a PS4 display at 60Hz, back when I reviewed Turrican Flashback.
Also, I'm completely sold on PS4 Slipstream based upon your description of it as, "OutRunners level 2D scaling with a drift model similar to OutRun 2." If Ansdor and Blitworks ever release a physical version, they should put that quote on the box!
I'll play The A500 Mini on the Easter weekend, and I'll be sure to check out Slipstream the weekend after.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 421
@Ristar24 Great retro themed picks, as always. I'm also interested in your two weekend gaming choices.
When I submitted my recent WAYP entry, I mentioned to Sammy that it was cool to see the OutRun and Yu Suzuki references in his recent PS4 Slipstream Mini Review, and he said he thought I'd enjoy that racer.
I bought The A500 Mini from GAME on Friday, as well, complete with a free t-shirt of colourful floppy disks. I even found Issue 11 of a magazine called 'Amiga Addict' in WH Smith, with The A500 Mini on its cover.
The trouble is that I'm out-and-about this weekend — hence I'm typing this incoherent response on my phone — and I don't want to rush my first boot-up of The A500 Mini.
Consequently, PS4 Zombies Ate My Neighbors and Ghoul Patrol at a £4.89 sale price is easy for me to dip my toes into for a quick play when I get home, so I'm going to save The A500 Mini for a lengthier gaming session — which I've been looking forward to for a while — probably during next weekend's WAYP 422.
Enjoy your A500 Mini and Slipstream, though, mate.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 418
@Andee Cool, I'm always up for hearing a Mean Machines shout-out! I had a quick flick through my close-at-hand Mean Machines magazines, but I wasn't able to find the Decap Attack comparison, yet. I did find a Den of Geek feature called Magical Flying Hat Turbo Adventure: The Weird Platformers of Vic Tokai. It's by Ryan Lambie, who is Editor of Wireframe magazine now, and he shares similar memories to you, saying that "I can still recall having a couple of copies of the 90s magazine Mean Machines, comparing the Japanese version's graphics to Decap Attack." Cheers for sharing this, I really like hearing people's retro mag memories.
@Plankton-Warrior Ninja Spirit, Pac-Land and Vigilante are all good examples of early PC Engine games, as all three were released in either 1989 or 1990, I think. I started saving for a PC Engine in 1989, and I wrote a list of possible games to buy, which included all three of those titles. By the time I saved my money, though, I changed my mind and spent it on a Mega Drive instead. Since then I've made sure I bought Pac-Land in the 1996 PS1 compilation Namco Museum Vol. 4, and I've got the TurboGrafx-16 versions of Ninja Spriit and Vigilante on the Wii's Virtual Console. I also bought a PC Engine CoreGrafx Mini to try to compensate for missing out on getting a PC Engine all those years ago, too.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 418
@Plankton-Warrior Good times indeed!
My favourite time in gaming is the early 16-bit era when the release of the PC Engine transitioned into the Mega Drive and then the SNES.
My nostalgia is most pronounced by my memories of becoming interested in importing starting in 1989 when magazines were covering Japanese games, which led to both console gaming and grey imports becoming more prominent in the UK.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 418
@Plankton-Warrior Magical Hat no Buttobi Tābo! Daibōken is such a quality Mega Drive choice for a weekend's gaming!
I booted up my PS3 to play Earthworm Jim HD, like I mentioned here, but I also spent a bit of time playing Decap Attack on the PS3's SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection.
I still quite like Decap Attack, but my nostalgia is more for Magical Hat, with my memories going back to reading about it in Computer and Video Games magazine.
I return to those old mags often, so I re-read the Japanese import review, which scored 84/100 in the March 1991 issue 112 of CVG – meaning that the review is 31 years old now.
I loved the colourful screenshots and anime character design in the double page spread, and for years I called the game Magical Flying Hat Turbo Adventure, because that's what it was called in CVG's review.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 417
@scpnightwing I was reading through the WAYP comments here yesterday to see if anyone else mentioned The Batman, and even though it's no longer the weekend, I thought I'd reply to your comment.
I'm based in Birkenhead, and my brother first told me about The Batman being filmed in Liverpool when he saw the film crew and a helicopter around St George's Hall. Here's a link to an interesting BBC News article called How Liverpool, Glasgow and London helped create Gotham City.
I hope you enjoyed returning to Batman: Arkham Asylum, because I had lots of fun completing a few Most Wanted missions in Batman: Arkham Knight, like the League of Assassins focussed Shadow War.
The Most Wanted side mission called The Perfect Crime, which centred around stopping a creepy, opera singing serial killer, meant Arkham Knight's perpetual rain lashed night-time fitted in well thematically with watching The Batman, and both harked back to my memories of reading The Long Halloween.
It was good news last month about Sony Interactive Entertainment moving to a 65,000 square foot relocated office more in the city centre of Liverpool, too.
Re: PS Store Indies Sale Offers Discounts on Over a Thousand PS5, PS4 Games
@Robocod G'day to you too, my friend!
I've got my eye on Strictly Limited Games' physical release of the Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection, as it's actually selling faster than I anticipated.
We're on the same page with our retro interests, because I'm also regularly checking on Strictly Limited's physical version of Turrican Anthology Vol. 2, because I'm intrigued about the Amiga version of Turrican 3.
In regards to the PlayStation Indies sale until the 23rd March, in the latest Load 230 issue of Retro Gamer there is a 'Retro Inspired' feature on the pixel art Metroidvania game Aggelos, which is currently a whopping 75% off at £3.24, when it should be £12.99.
The only thing I'm conscious about is watching my pennies a bit, because I want to get the A500 Mini fairly soon after it releases – this is considering that the A500 Mini is listed as either releasing in March or April in different shops in the UK.
Re: PS Store Indies Sale Offers Discounts on Over a Thousand PS5, PS4 Games
@Robocod I reviewed for Push Square two out of the five Cotton games that released on PS4 in 2021 (Cotton Reboot! and Mega Drive Panorama Cotton), and you're good to go with both games' performance if you decide to buy either of them – they're both only on PS4 and not on PS5 unfortunately, though.
Cotton Reboot! was solid from its release, and Panorama Cotton was patched, so just make sure you're playing the Version 1.01 update of the Mega Drive port.
Cotton Reboot! has 38% off to cost £21.69 in the PlayStation Indies sale in the UK, but its original price of £34.99 is admittedly at the higher end of shoot-'em-up games.
I enjoyed Cotton Reboot! enough to purchase a physical copy after I reviewed it, if that helps.
I've also included three especially cheap retro games below, which are tempting in the PlayStation Indies sale, so we have until Wednesday 23rd March to decide upon a spending spree
'PlayStation Indies' Sale Retro Games Under £3:
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 413
@Metalder Fair play, the more that people talk about Cannon-Dancer/Osman the more that spreading the word will keep some sort of hope for a port of it to modern consoles, although I'm not sure who has the rights to games by Mitchell Corporation today.
The 1989 arcade version of Strider is one of my favourite games in all my time gaming, especially since I imported the impressive Japanese Mega Drive conversion when it released in 1990. I've bought Strider on as many collections as possible since then.
Kouichi Yotsui was not the designer or director on that many games, but his work on both Strider and Cannon-Dancer makes him a legendary Japanese game creator in my eyes.
I know that Yotsui considered Cannon-Dancer to be a spiritual sequel to Strider, so I'm glad he got the chance to explore similar 2D design for Mitchell Corporation with the advances in arcade technology seven years later in 1996. It was cool that Yotsui was the game director on Moon Diver for PS3 in 2011, too.
Never say never, I guess I'll keep my fingers crossed that Cannon-Dancer/Osman is re-released on PS4 or PS5 one day.
Re: Poll: We Want You to Rate Your Favourite PS Vita Games
I've been really enjoying my PS Vita recently, because I've been focussing on playing pixel art indie, and retro games for each WAYP during the quiet early months of 2022.
Reading all of these comments reminds me of the PS Vita's exclusive games, so I've listed some of my favourites below, which either became multi platform later on, or are fun examples of Vita-only titles.
Note that I haven't played all of these releases, so they're either my personal picks, or games I'd like to check out for Vita's February 2022 10th birthday in AU, EU, NA etc.
Selection of Cool PS Vita Exclusive Games (Only on Vita)
Fun Games Available on Other PlayStation Systems That Are Synonymous with PS Vita to Me
I also had lots of fun playing the Vita version of Sumo Digital's Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed when it released in 2012, and I've fond memories of first checking out Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate when I went to the Eurogamer Expo at Earls Court, which I think was in 2013.
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2021
@PegasusActual93 It's good to hear Ion Fury didn't crash and held a smooth frame-rate for you, perhaps it received a patch after the Push Square review was published, so it could be beneficial for me to check out an updated version of the game.
You've certainly piqued my interest, I've just checked into it, and there's a physical PS4 version of Ion Fury too, which is only £14.99.
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2021
@PegasusActual93 I remember my cousin showing me DOOM on his PC when it was first released as shareware. I was well into console gaming during the height of the SNES' heyday at the time, but DOOM blew my socks off with its 3D graphics on a home desktop system.
I'll have a read of Graham Banas' Push Square Ion Fury review now, and I'll make a note to check it out in the future.
I've enjoyed many Housemarque games, from Super Stardust HD on PS3 — which my friend once showed to me in cool looking stereoscopic 3D — through to Resogun as an impressive launch PS4 game. I even played Resogun on PS Vita.
For some reason I had it in my head that Nex Machina was a multiplayer focussed game, but I've just had a quick read of Sammy Barker's 9/10 scoring review, and it sounds like a gem, just like you described. Cheers, mate!
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2021
@GalacticBreakdown Yep, Capcom Arcade Stadium only has Bronze Trophies, and many of them are such a grind, I wouldn't recommend to anyone to play this collection to target Trophies.
I've unlocked 80% progress so far, but by naturally just repeatedly playing the 32 retro arcade games available. Both the 'Play for at least 100 hours', and the 'Play any of the games a total of 1000 times' Bronze Trophies are currently Ultra Rare (0.1% of players earned).
Capcom Arcade Stadium's miserly approach is the opposite of 2021 retro releases like Gleylancer, Gynoug, or even Panorama Cotton, which all hand out a Platinum Trophy for less than one hour of play.
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2021
@Mostik Nice shout-out for the Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol.1, I bought a physical version of it on Switch from Limited Run Games.
Talking of memories, I got the Neo Geo Pocket Color during its UK launch, so I took it with me backpacking around Australia — I even used it as an alarm clock. I had games like Metal Slug 1st Mission, and Neo Turf Masters already, plus my girlfriend brought me SNK Vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium as a gift when she visited me in Oz for a few months.
I'd happily buy that collection again if it released on PS4 or PS5.
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2021
@Amnesiac I thought the presentation of the candy cabinets, all sat in chronological order, and zooming into the screen to play each arcade game was excellent menu design in Capcom Arcade Stadium, too. I also found earning CASPO strangely addictive, especially when it was from the specific parameters set by the Special Challenge that changes between each game.
I should get the 'Play for at least 100 hours' and 'Play any of the games a total of 1000 times' Bronze Trophies in Capcom Arcade Stadium soon enough, but Capcom need to be less stingy with the Trophies they offer in the next collection!
I hope you enjoy Turrican Flashback, as well. If you've got strong memories of playing Super Turrican, then I think you're going to love Mega Turrican – especially if you haven't played it before. Mega Turrican is like a cross between the Euro-style of home computer Turrican games, but with the console amped up set-pieces of a 16-bit Contra game. It's a really fantastic Mega Drive run-and-gun title.
Wishing a "Happy New Year" to you, too!
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2021
@Th3solution Thanks for the recommendations! He's already completed Red Dead Redemption 2, but I'll pass on the other games you've mentioned, because he'll appreciate it.
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2021
I just want to give a quick honourable mention to Assassin's Creed Valhalla on PS5, even though it released in 2020, because it was actually my most played PS5 game of 2021 with almost 100 hours invested in it this year.
I found it relaxing exploring the lush countryside environments, and I played it in tandem with my stepdad, so we bonded over discussing the Wrath of the Druids, The Siege of Paris, and the A Fated Encounter 2021 expansions, as well as embarking on River Raids.
My stepdad loves games with a historical context, and we're both fans of the Vikings TV series, so Assassin's Creed Valhalla inspired me to buy him PS5 Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut for Christmas.
Re: Game of the Year: Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2021
@lolwhatno Thank you very kindly, you've just made my day with this comment! Big cheers to you!