Games shops....

Back in the mists of time, when I was a young man (or the 1990s in other words. In the 1980s it was all about John Menzies) I used to spend far more time than was probably healthy in games shops. After completing my morning paper round on a Saturday, and collecting my wages, which were a princely £15 a week, I would head off to one of my favourite gaming haunts. Chief amongst these during this 16bit heyday was my local 'swap shop' Mega Mania.

Mega Mania operated a simple system: They stocked pre owned SMD/MCD games, which were displayed on price banded shelves (£25 was the most expensive, down to £4 IIRC). You could either purchase a game for the listed price, or swap one you already owned for it. Swapping wasn't straight forward though. If your game was worth more than the game you wanted, the swap was free. If it was the same price, you paid £2.50 (IIRC) to swap it. If it was cheaper, you paid the difference. At least, thats how I remember it working.

I would often spend a good hour or so deciding what games I would get that particular week. Mostly, I swapped games as the cost to me was minimal, which mean't more sweets and drinks for the marathon gaming session to come. Occasionally I would outright buy a game. Happy days.

Another shop I often visited was near to my school. It was a small back street job, which stocked a veritable cornucopia of imported delights. Many a lunch break was spent in there, looking at the cool Japanese box art, and wishing I had a working region convertor cart. Indeed, my most striking memory of this shop was the first time I laid eyes on Splatterhouse 3. I wanted that game sooo bad it hurt. Took me another 10 years before I finally played it.....

'New' games

So, I already mentioned that my beloved Saturn is now not reading game discs, which was a bit of a bugger as I had just bought a couple of new games from eBay. Thanks to the miracle of emulation, however, I can play the latest additions to my collection:

Athlete Kings: Segas own (quite good) attempt at the multi sports arcade joystick destroyer.

And its sequel:

Winter Heat: More of the same, but with winter sports instead!

 I'll review them once I've given them a solid playthrough.

Good day/bad day...

Good day: My copy of Athlete Kings arrived!

Bad day: My Saturn has decided to stop reading discs. :(

Guess its back on to eBay next payday to find a new one (again)! grr!

The Goonies (NES) mini review

The first time I came across this game was in the early 1990s, when I purchased a 'famiclone' called the Scorpion 8 from my local video rental shop. There were 2 reasons I picked this game up: firstly I'd never heard of it before and secondly, it was the only game on the shelf with an english language title.

And I'm glad I did. The Goonies turned out to be a reasonably playable little platformer. The game sees you traversing a map which spans locations from the Fratellis hideout to One Eyed Willies galleon, rescuing your friends, and avoiding enemies along the way. Each stage (excluding the hideout and the Galleon) is a bit 'Metroid-esque', in that they are not traditional 'linear' scrolling levels. You have to travel back and forth, accessing different sections of each stage to find all your friends, and the required exit keys.

The game itself plays quite well, with responsive controls. Unlike many platformers of this era, the controls don't feel floaty or loose. Looks wise, the game is acceptable. It certainly does not push the NES in any way, shape or form, but remains pleasing on they eyes. Sonically, the game is ok. A nice rendition of Cyndi Laupers Goonies theme is rendered throughout most of the game, with some basic sound effects for certain actions as required.

I have a deep affection for this game, and the only criticism I can lay at its feet is that it is a bit short. A decent gamer should be able to rock through this title in under an hour, easily.

4/5.

Splatterhouse 2

Splatterhouse 2. This is another example of the almost dead side scrolling beat em up genre. And yes, its another MegaDrive game. So sue me. (As a spooky fact: I bought this game at the same time as I bought SoR2).

The first thing anyone who wants to play Splatterhouse 2 should know is that it is a hard game. Damn hard. So damn hard, in fact, that i don't know of anyone who has managed to complete it without resorting to cheating. If you played the 2011 re-boot, then imagine the pain in the arse side scrolling levels. They were difficult, right? Well, imagine an entire game like that. Thats what this is.

To counterbalance that, however, the game looks pretty good. Whilst far from being one of the best looking SMD titles, the graphics suitably convey the dark, gory game world perfectly. The colour palette is muted, allowing the gore to stand out, and lets be honest, gore is this franchises raison d'etre. Yes, the animation isn't as smooth as most would like, but it works. Zombies shuffle convincingly. Various other hell spawn are suitably, well hell spawny.

The games audio is pretty good too. there are some scratchy but effective voice samples used sparingly, and the music is suitably horror movie-esque. This is another soundtrack that sits on my iPod.

As I said before, this is a difficult game, but it still has a replayability, as you just want to see if you can crack one more stage. The story is suitably b grade. After the events of Splatterhouse, our hero Rick returns to his life a somewhat broken man. the mysterious mask returns to haunt him, claiming that Ricks girlfriend isn't actually dead, but is being held in a 2nd, secret house deeper into the woods. Rick meets the mask once more, and begins his journey to defeat the Dark one and rescue his girl. Simple, but effective.

So, if you want a challenge, give this one a try. I guarantee you wan't complete it in 1 sitting.

3.5/5

Retro memories...

I remember very clearly the Xmas my parents bought me and my brother our MegaDrive. It was Xmas 1992, and we were desperate to have one having spent a good number of hours playing on our Cousins and comparing it to our SMS. The hype around Sonic 2 was probably the tipping point in our campaign to gat one for Xmas, so we found ourselves in Manchester City Centre after school one evening about a week before Xmas.....

We tried everywhere. And we just could not find one for love nor money. Beaties, Currys (who tried to sell us a SNES... which wasn't going to happen), Tandy, and finally we went to Dixons. And there they were. Piled up near the tills with a dedicated member of staff, only allowing one system per customer. We purchased the system, which came with a copy of 'World of Illiusion', and headed out to continue shopping. After more nagging, my parents relented and we went into a discount department store ('What Everyone Wants', iirc), and I used the remainder of my birthday money to snag a copy of 'Another World' to expand our library to 2 whole games!

That week was the longest ever. When Xmas Day rolled around, it was the earliest start I ever had. Thanks to my mother having to be in work for 6a.m. (she worked then as now in the local hospital), we were up for 4.30, opening presents. By 5.15, everything was opened, and my brother and myself were already deep into 'World of Illusion'.

I made over £200 in Xmas money from my family that year. By New Years Day all £200 had been spent on games, care of our local game shop 'Mega Mania'. Every game was pre-owned, and prices began at £5. Between me and my brother we probably bought 25 games. Sonic 2, Streets of Rage 2, Madden 92, Flashback, you name it, we bought it.

Best. Xmas. Ever.

WCW/NWO Revenge (N64 mini review)

WCW/NWO Revenge was quite simply the finest WCW videogame ever licensed. Really. Infact, before THQ secured the WWF (as it was back then) license, this was the best wrestling videogame ever.

Compared to modern wrstling games, the career mode is basic in the extreme. You choose a wrestler (who can be a WCW/NWO star, or one of the developers creations, or indeed your own), and work through a ladder of matches to win the various belts on offer. No storylines, no backstage segments, just match after match.

And the matches? Well, this is still one of the most playable wrestling games ever made. The controls manage to be both simple and deep. Beginners can just pick up and play, mashing buttons and winning matches, whereas more experienced gamers can use the games diverse moveset to play a more refined game.

The game is also pretty good looking, especially for an N64 game. The wrestlers are recognizable and the arenas nice and colourful. The character animation is superb, giving the wrestlers real weigt. Compared to its at the time rival title WWF War Zone, this is miles ahead. The games audio isn't too shabby either, perfectly capturing the mood of mid to late 90s wrestling.

I poured hours into this game back when I was a poor university student, such was the replayability. And once you added in a friend for some 2 player action.... Well, you could lose entire daystrying to establish a 'champion'.

If you own an N64, you should track down a copy of this game as a matter of urgency. This is an essential title.

5/5.