4th April 2012, 7:41 PM
Interesting stuff to know. I wonder now which method they used... maybe I can find the information online, I'll have to look.
New stuff.
Game Boy
--
Torpedo Range - $1, cart only. This is a battery-backed game with a somewhat unique design. Perhaps inspired by the B-game of Radar Mission, this is a game where you control a submarine. This is a much more ambitious game than Radar Mission, though. In the game, you choose one of six nations, and then set out to conquer the world with your sub. You do this by beating missions. You see, you sail around the oceans of the world, and scattered around the seas are many mini-stages. Each one has a difficulty ranking and stage type shown on the map, and you enter it by sailing into it. So far, I've seen five or six different stage types. All take place on a single screen, and have two basic designs -- either you move left and right (perhaps with the ability to submerge) and fire at stuff above you from close in, such as a ship or city defenses, while trying to dodge the fire raining down from above, or you control your sub (moving in all four directions through the water) from a zoomed-out side-scrolling view, shooting at stuff such as planes and other subs. There are three kinds of upgrades to buy on the main map, with the money you get for beating stages, including more armor (can take more hits), higher missile capacity, and one more. So yeah, it's sort of an RPG. You lose all money if you fail a mission, so save often. Fortunately, you can save from the map too, no need to go to a save point or anything like that. The game's challenging, but interesting... I don't know what I was expecting, but not something quite like this. Good find, particularly for that price!
SNES
--
Battle Cars - $6, cart only. This is a futuristic combat racing game from Namco. It uses Mode 7 graphics, with F-Zero-esque course designs and cars that look like something that could fit in F-Zero or Rock n Roll Racing or something. This game isn't as good as either of those, but for a genre fan like myself, it's fun anyway. In the game, on each track you first drive through it as fast as you can, trying to get to the end within the time limit. If you do so, you'll get money to buy car upgrades with; if you fail to make it in time, you won't get anything. In the second stage in each track, you race against an opponent. You must finish first to progress, and this is NOT easy. Win and you can progress, and you'll get money to spend on weapon upgrades too (the two types of money only work for their own category, so these winnings can only be spent on the weapons). There's no saving or passwords here, but you do have infinite continues. In both races, there are also numerous other vehicles on the track, to get in your way and provide for some bonus money if you can destroy them. There are three weapons -- a disc, which shoots ahead, bouncing off the walls; a mortar which fires a shot well up in front of you; and a homing missile which shoots the next enemy ahead of you. I've gotten partway through it, but it's getting tougher... anyway, it's a flawed game, with frustrating difficulty and limited options (only three cars, just a circuit mode with no single race mode at all, no saving or passwords, races are only against one opponent who matters, etc.), but I find it fun anyway.
NES
--
Thunder & Lightning - $6.50, cart only. Arkanoid clone, and a fun one. This is a hard game -- it's got no saving, passwords, or continues, so you only get one try -- but it has nice graphics, a bunch of fun powerups (you can have up to eight balls at once, for instance), and good variety for an Arkanoid game. The rectangular blocks are different from the norm, too. The balls can be VERY small though, so they can be hard to see... need to really pay attention.
New stuff.
Game Boy
--
Torpedo Range - $1, cart only. This is a battery-backed game with a somewhat unique design. Perhaps inspired by the B-game of Radar Mission, this is a game where you control a submarine. This is a much more ambitious game than Radar Mission, though. In the game, you choose one of six nations, and then set out to conquer the world with your sub. You do this by beating missions. You see, you sail around the oceans of the world, and scattered around the seas are many mini-stages. Each one has a difficulty ranking and stage type shown on the map, and you enter it by sailing into it. So far, I've seen five or six different stage types. All take place on a single screen, and have two basic designs -- either you move left and right (perhaps with the ability to submerge) and fire at stuff above you from close in, such as a ship or city defenses, while trying to dodge the fire raining down from above, or you control your sub (moving in all four directions through the water) from a zoomed-out side-scrolling view, shooting at stuff such as planes and other subs. There are three kinds of upgrades to buy on the main map, with the money you get for beating stages, including more armor (can take more hits), higher missile capacity, and one more. So yeah, it's sort of an RPG. You lose all money if you fail a mission, so save often. Fortunately, you can save from the map too, no need to go to a save point or anything like that. The game's challenging, but interesting... I don't know what I was expecting, but not something quite like this. Good find, particularly for that price!
SNES
--
Battle Cars - $6, cart only. This is a futuristic combat racing game from Namco. It uses Mode 7 graphics, with F-Zero-esque course designs and cars that look like something that could fit in F-Zero or Rock n Roll Racing or something. This game isn't as good as either of those, but for a genre fan like myself, it's fun anyway. In the game, on each track you first drive through it as fast as you can, trying to get to the end within the time limit. If you do so, you'll get money to buy car upgrades with; if you fail to make it in time, you won't get anything. In the second stage in each track, you race against an opponent. You must finish first to progress, and this is NOT easy. Win and you can progress, and you'll get money to spend on weapon upgrades too (the two types of money only work for their own category, so these winnings can only be spent on the weapons). There's no saving or passwords here, but you do have infinite continues. In both races, there are also numerous other vehicles on the track, to get in your way and provide for some bonus money if you can destroy them. There are three weapons -- a disc, which shoots ahead, bouncing off the walls; a mortar which fires a shot well up in front of you; and a homing missile which shoots the next enemy ahead of you. I've gotten partway through it, but it's getting tougher... anyway, it's a flawed game, with frustrating difficulty and limited options (only three cars, just a circuit mode with no single race mode at all, no saving or passwords, races are only against one opponent who matters, etc.), but I find it fun anyway.
NES
--
Thunder & Lightning - $6.50, cart only. Arkanoid clone, and a fun one. This is a hard game -- it's got no saving, passwords, or continues, so you only get one try -- but it has nice graphics, a bunch of fun powerups (you can have up to eight balls at once, for instance), and good variety for an Arkanoid game. The rectangular blocks are different from the norm, too. The balls can be VERY small though, so they can be hard to see... need to really pay attention.