Lol, had to look that one up.
The amount of people playing that game right now must surely be in the single digits at most 
1 Like
Wait, I just found out that Gordo 106 is featured on an Evercade cartridge, so the chance that people are playing that game right now is probably higher than I previously estimated!
1 Like
Back in August 2013 I decided to re-play through the daily challenge mode in Polarium Advance (much better than the DS version) but setting myself a goal of the year end - tough going fitting 12 months of puzzles into only 3 months.
I posted my progress to social media:
https://mobile.twitter.com/search?q=from%3Agingerbeardman%20%23polarium&src=typed_query&f=live
and one day I got this reply, which made my year:
Of course I plotted my progress over time in a Google Sheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1QJ6tfsfkrpQA231LmaV9Y4eLQNa6SXpl8NU2RPPSa78/htmlview
And finally crammed to finish it on New Year’s Eve!
3 Likes
Good game! Earlier this year I found my old cartridge from when I was back at school, it seems I almost made it to 300 unlocked puzzles.
Cleared a couple more last night! Do you remember what the stars mean against stages? The first stage I cleared netted me a blue star, but the second stage netted me nothing (I think the stage number changed to blue or red).
I’m guessing there’s an optimal solution for these stages that you need to follow to the book, and your fit to it determines the stars?
2 Likes
Blue Star is when you start and end on the correct squares.
Gold Star is when you start and end on the correct squares and do it within a predetermined number of steps.
I’ve done some stages in fewer steps than the gold/optimal route, so I feel the solutions are human generated rather than CPU generated.
2 Likes
Thanks! That would explain why replaying some older stages shows those special start/end tiles and a count-down for steps taken.
Game is brutally difficult at the moment for me, picking it up again at around puzzle 300 was clearly a mistake…cleared two more puzzles though for what it’s worth.
2 Likes
A few Arcade Archives games are on sale right now (on the European eShop at least), so I decided to download some obscure titles.
The first game I decided to give a whirl was Nichibutsu’s Radical Radial.
Quite an odd game, this one. You control a sentient tyre in what appears to be a run-of-the-mill vertically scrolling shooter.
It has a few tricks up its sleeve, though. First of all, besides shooting enemies and avoiding their attacks, you also have to jump over obstacles. Secondly, after completing a shoot 'em up level, you suddenly lose the ability to shoot and enter a driving level where you have to avoid crashing into strange vehicles. There’s also a bonus level where you have to collect points and jump over tree trunks.
All in all, playing this game feels like playing Galaga and Bump ‘n’ Jump simultaneously. Pretty fun, actually!
Also, you gotta love this artwork:
3 Likes
Sentient tyre? SOLD. Haven’t heard of this one before but if it’s as entertaining as Crazy Climber II I’m down. One of my favourite Nichibutsu games that is.
Thematically it reminds me a bit of SNK’s Munch Mobile or Jaleco’s Banishing Racer.
3 Likes
Radical Radial is definitely easier to get into than Munch Mobile. I always thought it was pretty difficult to control the car and its appendages at the same time in the latter game.
Banishing Racer seems like a lot of fun! It looks like an expansion on Jaleco’s own City Connection concept.
1 Like
Just looked up some footage of Radical Radial and it really does have strong bump 'n jump vibes. Love the momentum there!
Munch Mobile is brutal. The one time I got to play it at an arcade in Japan I was struggling big time with the amount of precision required.
2 Likes
My favorite beat them ups are Renegade/Nekketsu, The King of Dragons and Final Fight.
But two weeks ago I’ve found the one who rules them all, the perfect Double Dragon but ninja style : Zero Team 2000 by Seibu (first version from 1993).
Best gameplay, the one you want to 1cc, perfect rythme, all is perfect in this game.
Avalaible on PS4 ans Switch by Arcade Archives (the 2000 version is the “early version”) or playable with FB Neo/Retroarch/ShmupArch.
For more details:
Four ninja characters : two young classic “clones” ninjas, a chick who can grab in the air and a strong old striker with a scar like Takuma from AoF.
Two buttons, the defensive special that consumes life, very efficient but very consuming, and first originality you don’t get life back at the end of the level. And for all that it’s not a rip-off (I’m already at the end of the fourth level/6 in one credit). There is food to recover in the destructible objects and when a boss is defeated it explodes into dozens of objects to recover by passing over it like Rainbow Island, in the middle of which you have to look for the holy food which requires button 1 to be collected.
For the attack, there’s a basic combo, or by finishing with downwards which ends up in a projection in the other direction (FF), or upwards which ends up in a powerful attack which goes into a juggle but which makes you vulnerable for a moment when you land.
During the beginning of the combo, you can put a quick backward strike that puts the enemy on the ground, it comes out better than in any other BTU (you just have to go backwards while you continue to blast the attack, it comes out instantly) and it’s not overpowered because of the short range. How to square the circle of the messed up backstroke of Double Dragon 1/2, SoR2, Turtle in Time, here it is.
When you jump, there is a first small knee strike that can hit a close opponent without having to press the attack, original, and you can follow up with the jumping kick. Or you wait until the descent of the jump for a triple attack if placed at the right moment, which hurts a lot. The girl can grab the opponent over which you pass while spinning (or an opponent in the air) like in Ninja Gaiden, excellent.
There is even a move dedicated to the back jump, I had never seen that in my memory.
You can jump along the Z axis, without attacking, just to dodge some attacks. Once on the ground, you can also roll quickly on this axis before getting up.
A big part of the gameplay is the use of objects to throw, which can also be used by the enemies (you can make them hurt each other, the game has some certain cool physics and AI where unexpected things often happen). You can throw all sorts of heavy objects in all eight directions, very fun to shoot an enemy in the corner who was about to throw a box at you. You have to look everywhere in this game to stay alive. You can hit the opponents waiting at the bottom of the stage on the right of the screen (not only with objects), Seibo has thought of everything… And if you throw a can on an opponent still in the background, he is trapped inside with his legs sticking out, you can then throw the whole thing on the others lol (you just have to pass over these objects to lift them)
You can hit for fun the passers-by who haven’t run away yet (there are lots of cool anims), special mention to the chick to save tied up in the air during the last fight, that you can make scream by kicking her.
Some bosses can drop a big spear that you can use to throw at them. They drop bits of armor that you can throw at them or that they can throw at you in a rage.
Some enemies will take weapons out of their pockets if we leave them alone, making them more dangerous. You can then disarm them by hitting them.
There is also the bazooka which appears in all levels I think. Again, very well designed: once equipped with the number of remaining missiles displayed, you can try to keep it for later because you can still grab or do air attacks and you can still pick up objects to throw, with the bazooka slung on your back. And we keep it from one scene to another.
Excellent boss fights, well staged, violent just as it should, this BTU is a miracle.
Even the bonus stages are more fun and interactive than the competition.
4 Likes
Great write-up!
I have to agree that Zero Team is a really fun beat 'em up (I own the Switch Arcade Archives version). With its solid gameplay, nice graphics and responsive controls, playing this game is always a treat. Zero Team’s only weakness is its rather unremarkable soundtrack, but overall the good easily outweighs the bad. Every beat 'em up fan should give this game a try!
2 Likes
I even like the soundtrack lol
I love how lighthearted the adventure of our heroes is driven, and then during the boss fights you have this cool metal track wish suited well with the loud sound design of the fight.
2 Likes
Say, have you played the new TMNT beat 'em up? With its colourful graphics, small but well-animated sprites and zippy gameplay, it’s kinda reminiscent of Zero Team. You might enjoy it!
3 Likes
Yes thank you, I’ve played it for the first time this weekend on the Switch of a friend (I don’t have modern console anymore), I liked it very well !
A very good sequel to Turtle in Time (non official, kinda funny), my only letdown is the music just ok.
And I’m glad to see a new game from the Scott Pilgrim team but without the leveling system and a true arcade mode. Can’t wait to see some 240p CRT shots here !
3 Likes
My two (well three) favorite obscure arcade games:
Spiders by Sigma Enterprises
Red Alert by Irem
And Crazy Climber. It wasn’t that obscure, I suppose, but man I loved this game and its unique dual stick dynamics and it was hard to find locations that had it:
I recently discovered there was a sequel (!) and played it a bit under emulation. Released only in Japan, that explains why I didn’t know about it…
1 Like
Crazy Climber is amazing! I have the Wonderswan version - as you can imagine it’s a great fit for the rotatable screen and controls.
There’s also Hyper Crazy Climber on PS1, which is an odd remix of Crazy Climber 2. Never managed to finish it because it’s got an insane grind behind seeing the ending.
Crazy Climber 2 is just fantastic! One of my fondest Arcade Archives memories.
3 Likes
Not that I’m any sort of guage on obscurity but I’ve never heard of either of these - they both look really fun.
Now I’m off to find WonderSwan Crazy Climber.
2 Likes
I’ve just watched a few gameplay videos of Spiders and Red Alert and I must say they seem like pretty fun games! Gotta give them a whirl sometime.
1 Like
I’m playing Iron Aces 2: Birds of Prey! I got this a few months ago but only figured out yesterday I could use the retrotink to bypass my TV’s inability to accept PAL signals so fuck me I guess.
Despite the name, this has no relation to the Dreamcast game, instead being a localization of an unrelated flight game named Kuusen. Rather than focusing on a fictional storyline or recreating historical battles, Kuusen has a pretty unique and interesting premise: the game aims to chronicle the history of air combat, dividing itself on chapters focused on the twilight of the propeler fighter, the rise of the jet engine, the invention of the air-to-air missile, the “return to dogfight” and the modern era of air combat. A chapter might begin with a description such as “As jet fighters became faster and more powerful, bomber pilots started shitting themselves” and then segue into a mission where you have to defend a bomber. There is no attempt to tie into real combat operations and real world politics beyond flying period-appropriate aircraft against period-accurate opponents.
This isn’t a capital S simulator but it aims to be more realistic than something like Ace Combat or Secret Weapons Over Normandy. Planes feel heavy and flaps need to be operated independantly from your main aircraft controls. In many instances it is not viable to try to outurn your enemy, you’re instead encouraged to use hit and run tactics that real pilots would have used.
It was clearly made on a dime: vehicle models are almost PS1-esque in their polycount and most missions take place over the same generic grassland or over clouds.
I had some fun but hit a brickwall at a mission that tasks you with blowing up a lot of things with a B-29, slow and lumbering it is. I’ll keep at it.
3 Likes