Posted by Derek Yu
Wed, 07 May 2008 16:14:00 GMT
Droid Assault is a new action game from Puppygames. Just as Titan Attacks was a “Puppified” version of Space Invaders, and Ultratron a Puppified Robotron, Droid Assault is Paradroid given the Puppy treatment.
In Paradroid, players controlled an “Influence Device,” an otherwise weak droid with a very special ability – it could control and command droids after beating them in a logic-based circuit game. Droid Assault eschews this mini-game and lets you “transfer” to a droid so long as you have enough transfer points (obtained per 1000 score points). Also, once a droid has been transferred, it joins your team and can be controlled at any time (or when your current droid is blown up).
Longtime Paradroid fans may find this a bit off-putting, since the circuit mini-game was a big part of Paradroid (and allowed skilled players to take over even the mighty level 999 droid with a lowly Influence Device). However, Droid Assault is clearly built for speed and action, and as such it’s a highly enjoyable game with frantic action. The graphics and music are also ace, as we should come to expect from Caspian Prince and his team.
If I had any complaint, its that it’s occasionally difficult to discern blocks, pits, walls, and floors. Other than that, I’d highly recommend this very affordable ($10) little game. (And give Freedroid a try if you’d like to play the original!)
Posted in Remakes, Macintosh, Highly Recommended, Linux, Windows, Action / Arcade | Tags Puppygames | 30 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Sat, 19 Apr 2008 17:41:00 GMT
A developer known only as “Volumetric Pixel” has released Voxelstein 3d, a single level alpha release of his Wolfenstein 3d-inspired first person shooter. The game is built using Ken Silverman’s open source Voxlap engine. In case you haven’t guessed, it renders graphics using VOXELS (cubes) rather than flat polygons.
Voxelstein 3d is moderately entertaining as a tech demo and nice to look at, in an ugly sort of way. I definitely appreciate the way you can (and must) deform the walls, as you make your escape from the Nazi villa. But unfortunately, moving around in this voxel world feels very disorienting for me, and the combat is also less than satisfying (the eyes popping out is a nice touch, though).
It’s short, it’s voxelated, its Wolfenstein-ish! I’m interested in seeing if/how the game develops.
(Thanks, MisterX!)
Posted in Unique / Bizarre, FPS, Remakes, Windows, Freeware | 50 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:17:00 GMT
Z Sculpt has finally released Return to Dark Castle for Mac OSX, after a long development that began in 1996! Wow! That gives me hope for Duke Nukem Forever. (I’ll wait until the year 3000, Duke!)
The original Dark Castle, and its sequel, Beyond Dark Castle, were developed for the Macintosh by Silicon Beach Software, and were subsequently ported to other platforms (including a terrible Sega Genesis/Megadrive port). Return to Dark Castle retains the gameplay from the first two games, and adds a lot more stuff, including “remastered” versions of the 30 levels from the original games. A level editor is also forthcoming.
I had a great time with the DOS version of Dark Castle as a kid. Damn was that game hard. To hit a bat with a rock you needed some skills, dawg. And I’ll never forget the three prisoners getting whipped in the torture chamber, and how they’d help you pick the key that wasn’t booby trapped.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a Mac, but Benzido, who tipped me off about the game, does, and he had this to say:
Anyway, I bought it, and it’s extremely compelling. I’m into the 15 fps cap… it gives everything a film-like feel, like the stop-motion sequences in Star Wars.
Thanks, man! The full game is $30.
Posted in Platformers, Remakes, Macintosh | Tags ZSculpt | 23 comments
Posted by Jordan Magnuson
Tue, 04 Mar 2008 11:08:00 GMT
After some of the reaction to my Tremor post I feel the need for some sort of disclaimer here: this is part of my series on independent same-machine multiplayer games, and is not “news.” This is for those of you out there who enjoy playing multiplayer games on one keyboard, and haven’t yet tried this one.
Sonic Speedsters, created by Shorty Short Productions a while back, is essentially a glorified version of Tron’s Light Cycles game. If you’re not familiar with that game, the basic idea is that you control a futuristic “cycle” as it speeds around an arena trying to stay alive while knocking off opponent cycles. Each cycle leaves a long trails of “light” behind it as it moves, and these trails are deadly to other cycles, as are the arena’s walls.
You’ve probably played Tron, or some spin-off, but there are a few reasons that you should check out Sonic Speedsters none the less. Most of these boil down to the fact that the game is just FUN; it works, it’s done right. There are a number of cycles to choose from, and each is customizable, allowing you to configure for speed, acceleration, or maneuverability. The game supports single player “instant action” and campaign mode, as well as multiplayer LAN, internet (though you might not be able to find a game), and same keyboard play. The single player modes are fun enough, but the game’s multiplayer on one keyboard split screen action is just brilliant.
One of the best things about the game is the level of customization available. Besides customizing your cycles, you can choose between a number of settings regarding the deadliness of the light trails, and automatic turning and whatnot, making the game nicely scalable as you get better—and believe me, the better you get, and the harder you turn the settings up, the more fun the game is. The game also features custom resolution settings (a very good decision, as it allows the game to look good on my 22-inch monitor, years after its release), and a few different camera selections (playing the game from the “cockpit” view is a real blast once you get your feet wet). A variety of weapons, speed boosters and the like are of course available. The game’s feeling of chocolate coated speed is one of the best things about it.
Unfortunately the demo is no longer available on the official website, but I believe that it was released as freely distributable, so I’ve gone ahead and uploaded it here. The demo only gives you access to instant action play, but if you feel like trying out the full game, it only costs $15, and comes with a 60 day unconditional money back guarantee.
Sonic Speedsters
Players on One Keyboard: 1-2
Demo:
here (7.8 MB)
Purchase:
here ($15, unconditional 60 day money back guarantee)
Posted in Remakes, Highly Recommended, Windows, Action / Arcade | Tags shortyshort | 10 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:21:00 GMT
New video of the abandoned fan project Chrono Resurrection, made by one of its creators. CR received a cease-and-desist from Square-Enix a few years ago, much to the dismay of fans.
I actually can’t view the video right now because I’m posting from Matthew Wegner’s brand new laptop (no plugins installed). Let me know how it is!
(Source: Mike Fahey, via Kotaku)
Posted in Remakes, Videos | 43 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Sun, 16 Dec 2007 15:08:00 GMT
Man, I am a huge fan of Wendell Hicken’s classic tank game, Scorched Earth (which you can download here). I’m waiting for a true remake/sequel of this game that isn’t in 3d (nothing against 3d, mind, you, it’s just not the same). Something akin to what Pac-Man Championship Edition did for Pac-Man.
In the meantime, Atomic Cannon will satisfy. It’s definitely missing some of the spirit that made the original game so great, but injects some of its own. I miss my Funky Bombs, MIRVs, and Mag Shields, but the ability to build sandbags, drop automated sentries, and use any of the other new weapons definitely makes up for it. The added customization, various game modes (including network play), and much-improved controls (mouse and/or keyboard) are welcome sights, as well.
The graphics are kind of a hit-or-miss for me. It’s a mish-mash of realistic textures that are obviously lacking the kind of thought put into, say, Cortex Command’s terrain design. On the other hand, I really like the smoke trails, visual distortion, and other special effects that they used – stuff that wasn’t possible when Scorch came out.
As you can see, I’m of two minds about this game… mostly because I have this idea about what the perfect Scorch sequel would be (I’m sure that’s familiar to a lot of you), and this isn’t it. But the bottom line is that this version is pretty darn fun… fun enough that I might just treat myself to the full game ($20)!
(Source: PCGamer.com)
Posted in Mobile / Handheld, Remakes, Macintosh, Windows, Strategy, Action / Arcade | 13 comments
Posted by Guest Reviewer
Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:37:00 GMT
[Guest review by haowan]
Having been dreading the release of this game for some time now, it was with a kind of desperate excitement that I fired up the Ovine fan-sequel. I’m a hardcore fan of the original game so I was worried that I was pre-disposed to hate the game and think that it was a complete abomination and that it urinates all over the original game. Sadly, the game is so bad that I feel that regardless of my bias, I would not enjoy this game. It’s not fit to bear the “Exile” name.
Read more...
Posted in Platformers, Remakes, Windows, Freeware | Tags OvineByDesign | 30 comments
Posted by BMcC
Sat, 03 Nov 2007 05:29:00 GMT
Graham Goring, renown remaker and host of The Arsecast, has finally finished possibly the last remake of his career. A remake of the C64 game Wizball!
You can expect Graham’s usual high level of polish and even higher level of hardware accelerated effects. Seriously, this man’s love of particles borders on criminal.
The release of Wizball (alledgedly) marks the end of Graham’s remaking career, but also the beginning of his rise to indie gaming superstardom. I know he’s already got some rad projects lined up… but I’m still anxious to hear what he announces. Yay Graham!
Download the remake here.
UPDATE: A new version has been uploaded that fixes some issues with the first release.
Posted in Remakes, Highly Recommended, Windows, Action / Arcade | Tags GrahamGoring | 32 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Thu, 28 Jun 2007 15:38:00 GMT
Don’t tell me this is going to be a trend where American companies take great Japanese freeware and port it to a console, molesting the software as much as they can in the process. “Coming up next, it’s La Mulana! Or should I say: ExploreyTown for the PS3! Just like you remembered, except now in 3d and we got 50 Cent to rap the new theme song for the game!” Cha-ching cha-ching!
Because this Gamasutra report is the only place I’ve seen Kenta Cho’s name mentioned with the Blast Works press release, I’m extremely dubious about K.C.’s involvement in and support for the creation of this new Wii title. Because really, not even a quick name-drop in the release itself?
Also, the name “Blast Works” makes me think about either a steel factory or explosive diarrhea. Or exploding diarrhea in a steel factory. Either way, it’s horribly generic and doesn’t begin to evoke the playful theme of the game.
Fail. Would love to see Tumiki Fighters on the Wii, though. With full support of Kenta Cho with 90% of the royalties going to him.
Download Tumiki Fighters for free here at Kenta Cho’s website.
(Thanks to raigan for the heads-up.)
EDIT: Here’s the actual press release (Kotaku).
Posted in Remakes, Shoot-em-ups, Community, Wii, Previews | Tags KentaCho | 29 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Tue, 26 Jun 2007 02:05:00 GMT
Some of you may remember the hullabaloo surrounding the legality and morality surrounding Variant Interactive’s Cave Story PSP port (as well as the fatality of originality). It was never verified whether Variant got Pixel’s permission, or if they did, whether he would see any money, but something definitely stank up in there, and it was Variant that was whistling and looking in the other direction. Case in point:
“We want to be as faithful as possible. We are upgrading the graphics and the sound to more ‘modern’ levels, mostly for marketing concerns and platform requirements.” -Christopher Boyer, CEO of Variant Interactive
“Faithful,” “upgrading the graphics and sound,” and “marketing concerns…” which one of these does not belong with the others? So yeah, I find it really hard to believe that Pixel would go for anything like that, and even if he did, I still say fuck ‘em for doing it. “Upgrade the graphics and music?” Eat a shit sandwich, asshole.
Which is why it makes me really happy to announce that there’s a fan-made, homebrew PSP version in the works! Yay fans!
“Finally got Pixel’s approval and the source code. It looks doable, but at ~50000 lines of code it’s a little daunting.
This is the preview version that I sent to Pixel, so it’s mostly guesswork and buggy and certainly feels different from the original. Playable up to the first boss fight. Dual-language English and Japanese :) Tested on 3.10, should work unmodified with most custom firmware.”
Word. You can download a buggy, early version of the port from the link above. And while you’re at it, check out this DS port as well (different author).
(Source: selectbutton.net)
Posted in Mobile / Handheld, Platformers, Remakes, Homebrew, Previews, Doujin | Tags Pixel | 69 comments
