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The Evercade VS captures the spirit of retro gaming
Nostalgia is more than just games from the past and the makers of Evercade know this. With collectible cartridges and secrets to unlock the VS is a refreshing spin on the "mini" console.
Portabliss: Tumble Pop (3DS eShop)
Did you know that you can download handheld games now? That's amazingly convenient! The only inconvenient part of it is finding the right games to buy -- and that's where we come in, with our Portabliss column. In each installment, we'll tell you about a downloadable game on the iPhone, iPad, Android device, DSi, 3DS, PSP, etc. Today: Tumble Pop. When I started playing my review copy of Tumble Pop, I went in completely fresh. I had barely heard of it, paid little attention to it, and knew almost nothing besides having been published by Data East. And now I have a pleasant little pastime sitting on my 3DS, ready to provide me a few minutes of idle, low-stress entertainment whenever.Tumble Pop sort of follows the Bubble Bobble school of platforming. Each level is a series of vertically stacked platforms in which various monsters wander left and right. There's a variety of cute ghosts, invisible men (or walking hats and gloves), some ... fire sprite things, a couple of clowns – your basic assortment. Your job is to patrol each enclosed stage and suck up all the monsters with your backpack-mounted vacuum cleaner. They'll respawn out of gates a few times, and the stage ends once you've picked up all the monsters the stage has to offer.
Magical Drop V preview: The ghost of Data East
Few things in the game industry make me happier than over-the-top dedication to a random classic franchise. Another thing that makes me happy: Magical Drop games. So when I rolled up to Ignition Entertainment and saw a new Magical Drop game, I was pleased. And then I played it, and that "pleased" status was upgraded to "delighted." Magical Drop, for the uninitiated, is a color-matching puzzle game series by Data East in which players grab gems from the top of the screen, and then shoot them into different locations to match three or more. All the while, more gems come in from the top and drop the whole arrangement toward the bottom of the screen. Of course, there are several selectable characters (named after tarot cards), and different patterns of blocks can be sent to the opponent's side in multiplayer matches.%Gallery-125736%
Road Blaster drives recklessly to iOS, available now for a buck
Revolutionary Concepts' cleaned-up iPhone/iPad port of the FMV car game Road Blaster may not have hit its original September 2010 release date, but that hardly matters now, because it's available now. Similar to Cobra Command, this is an updated version of a Data East arcade game, featuring vehicular mayhem rendered in traditional 2D animation. If you'd like to take this insane, animated destructive driving adventure with you anywhere, you can do so right now for just 99 cents. After the "launch period," it's going back up to $2.99, so you should road blast over to the App Store if you're interested. Or drift past the break for some footage.
FMV game Road Blaster headed to iPhone
iPhone developer Revolutionary Concepts, responsible for the great port of the Data East FMV game Cobra Command, as well as Karate Champ and the original Frogger-like game Banzai Rabbit, announced plans for another refreshed FMV title: Road Blaster (also known as Road Avenger). Perhaps best known as an early Sega CD title, Road Blaster was an anime-style FMV driving game originally released to arcades in 1985. Like Cobra Command, Revolutionary Concepts has cleaned up the video footage, added a brand new UI, and tilt controls. In addition, it's got enhanced graphics for iPhone 4 and iPad, along with leaderboard and GameCenter support (presumably when GameCenter launches). Revolutionary Concepts hopes to release Road Blaster next month. For now, check out some iPhone and iPad screens in our gallery.%Gallery-99379%
Karate Champ, Amiga games coming soon to iPhone
Two companies have announced new iPhone releases of old games. First, Pocket Gamer reports that Cobra Command developer Revolutionary Concepts will release another Data East classic, Karate Champ, on iPhone and iPod touch. The port will feature Bluetooth and local wi-fi two-player, and will simulate the original dual-joystick interface of the arcade game. In addition, Manomio, developer of the on-again, off-again Commodore 64 emulator for iPhone, has gotten an Amiga emulator working and plans to release Amiga games as standalone apps. According to Touch Arcade's report of a Retro Gamer magazine article, one of the first games in the works is another early karate title, International Karate+ -- a slightly more modern version of a C64 fighter. The two titles will then face off in a one-on-one battle to be the most popular retro fighting game.
Golgoth forced to find Toki HD publisher for XBLA
French developer Golgoth Studio captured our attention this October when it announced it was working on a complete high-def remake of the classic arcade game, Toki. However, today Joystiq learned that Microsoft has decided against publishing the remake itself and has invited the indie dev to find another publisher willing to put the game on its platform. According to Toki HD producer Anthony De Sa Ferreira, the Xbox Live Arcade approval process only allows titles published by Microsoft or an approved third-party company. Following its submission, Microsoft told Golgoth Studio that Toki HD "did not fit with the current needs of Microsoft Game Studio," and suggested the developer contact another publisher. Golgoth tells Joystiq that it is in active conversations with multiple publishers and is confident the game will see life on the Xbox Live Arcade, saying an agreement may be only weeks away. Ferreira believes Microsoft's approval process may have become more stringent in light of the recent high-profile success of original games on the platform, such as Shadow Complex. "I think it's too bad, because it's the independent studios who helped the XBLA to [meet] the success it knows today," he said, adding that not many indie devs can achieve such an impressive result as the Chair-developed title. %Gallery-80535%
iPhone It In: Cobra Command
The iPhone is the best thing to happen to FMV games since ... well, I can't think of anything good to happen to FMV games in the last ten years or so. Basically, the iPhone is one of the first portable platforms able to store and play the high-quality video that games like Dragon's Lair are known for -- and FMV games usually have uncomplicated enough control schemes to survive the transition to the iPhone intact. Cobra Command is actually a bit more complex than your average Dragon's Lair type game, but it works just fine with the iPhone's controls. It's also the most '80s thing you'll ever experience. %Gallery-76805%
Data East Arcade Classics drops in Feb. 2010 for $20, new trailer
Majesco has released the first trailer for its upcoming Data East Arcade Classics collection. You might not remember the names of all the games in the video, but children of the 80s are likely to recognize at least a handful of them. One or two of them might even prompt shouts of "Hey! I remember ... that game! With the guys, and the explosions." The good news is you won't have to wait too long to figure it out, as Majesco has announced that Data East Arcade Classics will release in February 2010. Even better news, it will only cost twenty bucks. Yeah, $20 for Bad Dudes, Burger Time and Magical Drop III. As if that weren't enough, the game also ties your high scores to your Mii and features unlockable bonus material. The best news of all, the pizza joint down the street isn't getting any more of our hard-earned quarters ever again.
Golgoth confirms Joe and Mac remake in the works
Golgoth recently dropped a press release to cut off conjecture about their next project at the pass, simply stating, "after our Toki remake release, we'll work on Joe and Mac license." That simple confirmation, as well as the concept art seen above, was really the only meat on the release's bones -- platforms for the remake, or a tentative launch window still remain unannounced. We'd love to toot our own horn for correctly guessing the franchise Golgoth would work on next, but the studio's boss did say it would be a Data East-developed co-op platformer. One needn't be a world-renowned cryptographer to suss that one out.
Cobra Command iPhone port features best animated helicopter explosions we've seen today
When Revolutionary Concepts first unveiled its enhanced iPhone port of Data East's relatively obscure FMV shooter Cobra Command, all we had to stare at were a few proof-of-concept screens and a tentative October release date. That date has been pushed to "early to mid-November" as the developers anticipate submitting the game to Apple this week. For right now, however, we have footage. After the break, you can see Cobra Command in motion. It's a bit more complicated than the Space Ace or Dragon's Lair–type FMV game, and consequently the iPhone version uses both a virtual joystick (for targeting) and the iPhone's accelerometer (for steering the helicopter).%Gallery-76805%
Toki remake devs planning another Data East revival
Golgoth Studio, the French developer behind the extraordinarily unlikely HD remake of TAD Corporation's Toki, isn't planning to stop bringing back things you might not have even known existed. During the hunt for Toki rights, Golgoth got in touch with G-Mode, who owns most of Data East's IP, and who offered the developer the license for a Data East property. "I can't really say the name of the game right now," Anthony De Sa Ferreira told Gamasutra. "We only have the new design of the principal characters. To give a little hint about this license, it's a co-op platformer game. But I can't say more yet." Our guess for that co-op Data East platformer: Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja. A less likely guess: Spinmaster. Finding the Toki license, De Sa Ferreira said, was "like an RPG," with most of the companies involved with Toki now gone and the rights to those companies' works spread among multiple buyers. We didn't even know that Data East had been involved with Toki, much less that it was among the properties purchased by G-Mode. [Image credit]
FMV game 'Cobra Command' fully moving to iPhone
If you had asked us which modern gaming platform would become the home of laserdisc arcade games ... we wouldn't have guessed any mobile platform, much less a phone. But somehow, thanks to Space Ace and the upcoming Mad Dog McCree, the iPhone is the go-to platform for FMV. The latest game to be revived for iPhone is Cobra Command, a 1984 FMV shooter by Data East that puts you in the cockpit of a helicopter. Developer Revolutionary Concepts is revamping the interface (including tilt-based steering) and cockpit graphics, and is projecting an October release date. Rights holder G-mode seems to be working hard to get its Data East games out, including recent releases, like Magical Drop on multiple platforms, and the (still unofficial) Wii collection. We appreciate that.
ESRB reveals Data East arcade collection on Wii and more
A bit of a news roundup from the ESRB today. First off, the ratings board revealed a collection of Data East arcade games for Wii, called Data East Arcade Classics, containing Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja (!), Burger Time, Caveman Ninja, Street Slam, Secret Agent, Magical Drop III, and more, published by Majesco. It would appear that Data East (or G-mode, the company that holds the rights to Data East's games) doesn't feel like charging 8 bucks for each game on the Virtual Console Arcade.Other surprises include Crash 'N The Boyz: Street Challenge (which was known as Crash 'N The Boys: Street Challenge on the NES), the Kunio (River City Ransom) sports game, and Tomena Sanner, the intriguingly quirky-looking one-button WiiWare running game from Konami! [Image credit]
Namco Networks gives BurgerTime the update it didn't need
27 years after the release of Data East's original, Namco Networks has declared BurgerTime once again. BurgerTime Deluxe (not to be confused with the Game Boy game) recasts the arcade classic as a casual PC game, which primarily means replacing the arcade game's pixels with awful 3D models. Deluxe adds enemies like lemons and zucchini for some reason, includes minigames, and replaces the repetitive BurgerTime music with equally repetitive, but less catchy, music. Oh, and Peter Pepper talks to you all the time.It still mostly plays like Burgertime, which is the only reason Data East hasn't risen from its grave in the form of a zombie Karnov and destroyed the world with fireballs. You can try it yourself for free for one hour (Burgertime Deluxe, that is, not destroying the world as a zombie Karnov).And now for a bit of BurgerTime trivia: Data East released two arcade sequels to BurgerTime, called Peter Pepper's Ice Cream Factory and Super BurgerTime.
It's Burgertime to kick ass
The Duke Nukem Trilogy trailer handily won E3 with its intoxicating combination of flying logos, stock images of dudes in gas masks, and slow-motion crotch closeups. Now Data East's arcade classic Burgertime has been given the same expert treatment. Peter Pepper's struggle to make giant hamburgers with his feet while being assaulted by sentient food has never looked so badass.Unlike Duke Nukem Trilogy, we have reason to believe that Burgertime will actually come out (the reason being that it was already released hundreds of times), which makes it that much easier to get hyped.[Via Dot Matrix With Stereo Sound]
Animated Intro of Herakles
Herakles no Eikou (Glory of Herakles/Hercules) comes out in Japan on the 22nd, and Nintendo and Paon are taking the traditional RPG-promotion tactic of displaying some gorgeous cinematics. We tend to enjoy the anime-style promo scenes more than the high-res CG stuff that Square Enix tends to use, so we were very pleased to watch the animated half of this trailer, which we suspect is the opening scene of the game. It's enjoyable both on its own and as a look at a parallel universe in which Greek mythology developed in Japan.Though it's an obvious step down in visual fidelity from the high-quality animation, the gameplay footage that follows looks pretty spectacular as well, and enough of the feeling carries over from the intro to temporarily convince us that RPGs can be exciting. We'd love for this to be the first Herakles no Eikou game to escape Japan.
Caught on video: Glory of Heracles is an RPG
In case you weren't one hundred percent convinced that Paon's Herakles no Eikou: Tamashii no Shoumei was an RPG, despite the amnesiac hero and the fact that it's an RPG series, the two videos of the game's battles, posted on the official website, should convince you that they are about as RP as a G can be.Seriously: the camera swirls around as a hero summons meteors from the sky, which then drop on a group of wolf monsters who stand still in a rectangular formation as they are hit. That is textbook. Paon's choice of platform also makes its influence felt, as this attack is powered up by sliding icons into areas of the touchscreen.[Via NeoGAF]
The VC Advantage: A good old-fashioned code list
We've been diverging lately into video game history and ephemera in these VC Advantage columns, because those are usually a lot more interesting than just plain old cheats, while keeping in the spirit of extending the enjoyment of games through secrets. But sometimes it's nice to get back to the original stated purpose of presenting codes for Virtual Console games as if we were writing a column in an old gaming magazine.Mega Turrican seems like an excellent candidate for this treatment, because it is hard as all get out. While previous entries in the franchise involved huge, maze-like levels, Mega Turrican is basically Contra but faster (and with backgrounds that don't contrast enough with the enemies) -- a straightforward left-to-right run-and-gun. And that is almost universal code for "punishingly hard game whose first level you will see about fifty thousand times."With that in mind, an invincibility cheat seems like a perfectly relevant and helpful thing to offer. It couldn't be easier to pull off, either: just pause the game and hit A, A, A, B, B, B, A, A, A. You don't even have to write this one down! You can also skip a level by hitting right, left, down, right, and then B while paused. And now you can pretend to be successful while playing Mega Turrican![Codes via GameFAQs]
Obscure Nintendo RPG reborn as another obscure RPG
A few screenshots of Nintendo's Eternal Chronicle sneaked into the release list from Nintendo of Japan's October conference, and then it was never heard from again. The RPG has resurfaced now, as a sequel to a franchise that was never released over here: Herakles no Eikou (Glory of Heracles). With original publisher Data East dead, the rights to the Greek-mythology RPG series have been grabbed up by Paon, developers of Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast on Wii.The conversion is the second step in a minor resurgence for the franchise -- Herakles no Eikou IV for the Super Famicom was announced for Virtual Console release this month.
