Advent Calendar - December 5th.

5th Gear (Commodore 64)

So, I'm guessing that most people have cottoned on to the theme by now, and are making guesses as to what the next game might be. Did anyone get this one? It's yet another ancient game... must get around to something a bit more modern at some point...

5th Gear sets itself up as a game where you're taking part in an illegal, no-holds barred car race. It sounds a bit like The Cannonball Run with weapons which, thinking about it, would be awesome. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite like work out like that.


Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Oh, don't be stupid...

The game is like some kind of crazy shuttle run. You have a set time where you must race against time up the screen to a pre-determined point, turn around, and make it back to the start line again. That doesn't seem as though it would be that difficult, but the path to success is littered with obstacles...


Ooh, a garage! That's handy. Wonder if they've got any Haribo?

It's bad enough that there's some tricky terrain to negotiate, but this being the kind of event that it is, there are other vehicles en route that will try their hardest to bring your run to a premature end. Some just drive around in circles in awkward places, getting in the way... others will shoot at you, which is somewhat bothersome. You can fight back, though... your car is equipped with a machine gun right from the off, and there are shops along the route that offer new equipment, repairs and upgrades.


Ahhh... this can't end well...

This all sounds like a huge amount of fun, but in practice it's not quite as good as you'd imagine. Chief fun-stopping culprit is the small screen size. I've measured it (sad, I know), and you only actually get to play on five-eights of the screen... in a vertically scrolling game on a TV screen, that's incredibly restrictive. Secondly, this is billed as a race... but you can't actually go fast. Well, you can, but games won't last very long if you do. There are so many obstacles, such as walls, bushes and bridges that you'll be dead in seconds. And as if that wasn't difficult enough, there are rivers with narrow bridges to cross, although if there's a jump or you have the right equipment you can sometimes take these out of the equation.

5th Gear has all the makings of an excellent game, but it's hamstrung by the game design and the difficulty. It's a shame, because a combat racer could have been a huge hit on he Commodore 64, and in fact I reckon this is one of those games that could still make an excellent game if it was remade on one of today's consoles or PC. Anyone out there fancy giving it a go?

Advent Calendar - December 4th.

4th & Inches (Commodore 64)

Accolade went through a little spell in the Eighties where they brought us Britishers a real taste of Americana on the Commodore 64. I've already written about a couple of them... Law of the West and HardBall! I like to consider the games a trilogy, and the third is the game I've played today, 4th & Inches.


You just don't get names like that in English sport. Mack Truck? Fantastic.

I used to quite like American Football in the Eighties, courtesy of Channel 4's coverage. I didn't understand it (originally I didn't even know what this game's title meant!), but it almost felt like it was a game from another planet. Of course, any liking of American Football was knocked out of me by five years of living in Detroit... there has never been a suckier team than the Detroit Lions.

So the first time I loaded up 4th & Inches back then I was instantly taken with it. There were all these weird sounding plays and moves... Shotgun? Streak? No idea what they meant, but they seemed to work so I did them all the time. I really enjoyed the game, especially when playing against another human. It's a long, long time since I played 4th & Inches... I thought the time was right for a revisit.


See what I mean? I thought a Double Wing was something new at KFC.

The game is structured in a similar fashion to HardBall!. You've got a choice of two teams, which effectively comes down to your favourite colour between red and blue. Before you actually try and score any points, both sides have a choice of plays, chosen by the respective positions on the joystick. Your human opponent won't know what you've picked, adding an authentic air to proceedings. Once all the options have been run through, the action starts. The ball is snapped to your Quarterback, and you have to try and successfully run the play you've selected, or effectively stop your opponent if you're on defense.


Go on, son! GET IIIIIINNNNNNN!

I'm not going to run through the rules of American Football here... partly because it would be boring and partly because I don't know them myself. I'm not writing about American Football, anyway. 4th & Inches is an incredibly limited game by today's standards, but it was fun then and it's still fun for a game or two now, as long as you're not expecting any amount of depth from it. Because, depending on whether you've chosen to run or pass, the game becomes either a giant pile-on or a Benny Hill sketch, with the entire opposition team charging after your running back. In fact, it reminds me a little bit of Monty Python's Masters vs. Boys rugby match.


Inevitably, the tide has turned. That'll be that, then.

I was never that great at the game, and so it proved again whilst playing this... after a good start that saw me taking the lead, I never scored again and received a sound thrashing. I still enjoyed it though... the graphics have a charm all of their own, the incidental music from Ed Bogas (look him up... I had no idea back then that he'd done so much musically) that contributed so much to the atmosphere of all the classic Accolade games is still lovely today and there's quite a bit of tension as the clock ticks down and you're pressing for another score. 4th & Inches might not be a match for the Madden games of today, but back then it was all we had and it served us very well indeed.

Advent Calendar - December 3rd.

Three Weeks in Paradise (ZX Spectrum)

I only played one Wally Week game on the Commodore 64, that being Pyjamarama. I enjoyed that game a lot... it was very silly, and basically used a platform game to link together minigames. I had no idea what I was doing in the game itself, but I had quite a lot of fun just pottering about, and the variety of the minigames was appealing.

For some reason I've always seen this as a Spectrum series of games, but out of the five, four of them made it across to the Commodore 64. The only one that wasn't converted was the last one, Three Weeks in Paradise. How convenient that it ties in with my advent calendar!


If you're feeling froggy, jump!

Three Weeks in Paradise sees Wally take his wife and son on holiday, but being a tight bastard he arranges the travel himself and sees the family lost on a desert island. That might not have been so bad... in fact, for many it would be an ideal holiday. Unfortunately for Wally, though, his wife and child are kidnapped by hungry cannibals. So instead of lounging on the beach and catching some rays, Wally has to explore the island and look for ways to set the Weeks free.


That's a bit silly. You should wear shoes with covered toes if you're going crabbing.

If you owned an 8-bit computer, you'd know what to expect from this type of game, and Three Weeks in Paradise is no different. It's a flick-screen platform adventure (although there's actually very little platforming in this one), and there are a number of really obscure puzzles to solve. You need to find the right item for each puzzle, and once you use the item correctly, you're allowed to progress.

This can lead to frustration in some games, but fortunately in Three Weeks in Paradise the items are never too far from the puzzles in question, and you can't actually get into certain areas until certain puzzles are solved, so in effect the playing area is reduced until you've figured out what to do. There's still plenty of head-scratching and trial and error (even the first puzzle will make you shout, "Whaaaat?), but at least it's kept down to a reasonable degree.


"Doctor, I've got a bad chest." "Piss off."

The cannibals obviously aren't that hungry as there's no time limit, and there are just a few dangerous enemies, so you can take your time in figuring out what needs to be done. To be honest, you'd think they would have just taken Wally for the pot... he's a bit of a fat bloke. He actually looks just like an Englishman on holiday, complete with knotted hankie on the head, which is pretty endearing.


Son, stop messing around in that pot and get down here, now!

I have to say, I've got a bit of a soft spot for games like this. I played and completed a good number of them in my time on the Commodore 64, and even managed to try a fair few of the Speccy's. I would rate Three Weeks in Paradise as a pretty good example, although it's a bit on the short side (I played the 48K version... I would imagine the available 128K version would add more screens, but don't quote me on that). This was the last game in the Wally Week series... I wonder what he's up to now...?

Advent Calendar - December 2nd.

Two Crude Dudes (Sega Megadrive)

This wasn't actually my first choice for today, but then I found out the game I was due to play was a sequel, and I'm trying not to play any sequels for this advent calendar project (there will be the occasional game that is technically a sequel, but they're allowed!). So, after a little bit of a dig around I came up with this substitute.


You have to say, that looks like a bit of a mismatch.

Two Crude Dudes is a side-scrolling beat 'em up set in a dystopian, post-nuclear future. It's actually based on an arcade game called Two Crude, and bad though the Megadrive game's name is, it's slightly less rubbish than the arcade game's.

Not that it matters... I'd neither heard of nor played either of them before, so I went with the Megadrive version. It's made by Data East, so it probably won't come as any surprise to find out it plays a but like Dragon Ninja (which was actually called Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja, if I remember right... someone at Data East must have had a thing for dudes).


Hey, hang on a minute! I forgot my marshamllows!

It's as simple as you'd expect from this type of game... walk from left to right, and punch, kick and throw everything that comes your way. What matters is whether it's well done, or has a unique spin of its own.

Two Crude Dudes, thankfully, has a sense of humour. If it didn't, there's no way you'd play it more than once, because it really is a bog-standard beat 'em up in every other way. There's no special moves or anything remarkable. All you have is a steady stream of odd, mutated characters coming your way. If anything, it reminds me a little of Street Hassle, which I played in October.


Yeah, I've done that a few times. Usually when my Hula Hoops have got stuck.

I have to say, if I'd bought this for the Megadrive, I'd probably have been disappointed. It really is a shallow button-masher, with just the crazy characters making it stand out in any way. On the other hand, it has a simultaneous two-player mode, and I expect I'd have had a right laugh with that. As a one-player game in 2010, though, it's not something I can say I'd play much beyond the hour I gave it for this write-up.

Advent Calendar - December 1st.

First Samurai (Commodore 64)

If you've ever picked up a joystick and you're over the age of thirty, the chances are you've heard of The Last Ninja series of games. They're the legendary tales of Armakuni, out to avenge his murdered ninja brethren. Everybody knows about The Last Ninja. First Samurai, on the other hand... not so much.

I'll be honest, when I first heard about First Samurai all those years ago, I figured it was a piss-take, and didn't really pay it any attention. Why else would they call it that after The Last Ninja had been so successful? I suppose the intention was to piggyback off it and hope for similar success, but it was released too late for that.


Having travelled through time, our Samurai learned from The Bride how best to get blood off his sword.

First Samurai is also a tale of revenge, but the plot is a bit sillier sounding than that of The Last Ninja, with waffle about Demon Kings and Wizard Mages. The upshot of it all is that your master is dead, and your angry Samurai is out to avenge him.

So, a noble quest, and it turns out to be a huge and action-packed one. Unlike The Last Ninja's lovely isometric 3D, First Samurai distances itself from that game by being a much more straightforward side-scrolling action platformer. You're able to jump and climb around the landscape, which is very handy as there are some very out-of-the-way platforms, and if you can reach them your agility will surely be rewarded...


John Hurt was worried that he'd become typecast...

Of course, you wouldn't be much of a Samurai without a sword, and sure enough, you've got one. Trouble is, it's a mystical sword and you can't wield it unless you have enough mystical energy. You'd better gather that energy quickly as you're going to need that sword, because you're constantly under attack from a barrage of critters and enemies. And when I say "constantly", I mean it... these little bastards respawn as soon as they've been killed. Like I said, it makes for an action-packed game, but it would be nice if you (and the game) were given a little more room to breathe.

Other enemies may be a little trickier to overcome, so you may be able to summon the Wizard Mage on occasions, and he may be able to help you progress. You must use his powers sparingly and wisely, for you are only able to summon him a limited number of times...


Look, there's no point hiding... get out there and get stuck in!

Apparently, once you get far enough, you travel through time to get at the murdering demon. Groan. Yeah, that old chestnut. I'd rather this had stuck to the traditional if I'm honest. Although, for as long as I played the game, it did... I never got beyond the attractive countryside landscapes. As I mentioned earlier... it's obviously a huge game.

I was pretty sure that this came out on the Commodore 64 first, and was ported to other formats. That might be true, but having done some research on this it seems as though the C64 version might have been scaled back from the Amiga version. I don't know which way it went, but the Amiga version looks like a much better game and I wish I'd been able to play that version instead. That's not to say that First Samurai on the Commodore 64 is a bad game. It's a very big game, and quite enjoyable for what it is. But it's a touch unremarkable and doesn't feel quite as epic as it should (or as The Last Ninja does), which is a bit of a shame.

Ready to go

OK, the games, where needed, have been bought (not all have them have arrived yet, though... that could bring this whole thing crashing down). Templates have been set up for the writing. Images have been manipulated. My games controllers all have working batteries (where needed).

I think we're about set.

I hope you all enjoy the next 25 days. I've spent about 40 quid on games... so take note of the fact that you are all literally depriving my children of Christmas presents by reading this blog.

Not really.

I've got a real mixed bag of gaming coming up. The plan was to play as many games as possible that were new to me... that's always been the point of the blog. They range from the classic to the rare gem to the weird to the just plain rubbish. It should be an interesting ride... hope you all stick with it. If nothing else, at least reading it will help you remember how many days are left until Santa turns up...

Starting on Wednesday - A Game A Day Advent Calendar

I've been working on this for the last few weeks... figuring out which games to use, and actually getting hold of some of them (and some are still in the post... if this weather doesn't perk up, this could still fall to bits). If you're sick of chocolate advent calendars, why not try mine as an alternative? I'll be writing about a different game every day up until Christmas... when you see the theme, you might realise why I've had such a hard time... it's been bloody difficult getting everything I've wanted!

Anyway, it all kicks off on Wednesday 1st December... here's an image to whet your appetites...



Doesn't work as well reduced...

Planescape: Torment (PC)

Here's a game I've meant to play for years. I'd originally bought it when I was living in America. At that time, there were companies that were re-releasing classic PC games in cool cardboard slipcase/jewel case packages, costing no more than $9.99. Every time we went to any mall or outlet, I'd pop into the games stores and see what new stuff they had on the racks. I managed to build up a fairly substantial and, dare I say it, impressive collection... only to lose a fair bit of it when I sold a lot of stuff before I moved back here.

It's proven more difficult to find over here, but recently it's had a physical re-release and has been made available on the fantastic GOG.com. And that's where I got it from.


Well, that's just lovely, that is.

Planescape: Torment is a computer RPG based on Dungeons & Dragons rules. That means nothing to me, as I only briefly dabbled in D&D and that was when I was about nine years old, when an older lad who fancied himself as a Dungeon Master both created and killed my character within the space of about two hours. Wanker.

Anyway, enough of my mental scarring. When I first played this I got stuck in the first room and didn't have the patience to carry on... that, plus I had too many other games to play (that bit hasn't changed at all!). This time, I vowed to do better and see exactly why this game is so highly rated in the gaming community.


Damn the limitations of a 400px wide image.

It turns out that the reason the game is so highly rated because of the dialogue. Planescape: Torment is very dialogue-heavy. In many games this can be tedious, but Planescape: Torment has some very funny and quirky dialogue which is almost always a joy to click through. You're an undead character, waking up on a morgue table and not actually realising your plight. And you'd probably never realise your plight, if it wasn't for the incredibly mouthy skull that befriends you and proceeds to rabbit on the whole way around.

Morte is your new friend's name, and he's the sassiest, sarkiest skull this side of Trap Door, but with a healthier sexual appetite. Yes, you read that right. Those cadaverous laydeez that wander around the place are right up his street, and he doesn't mind letting you know it. It's a bit bizarre, and pretty funny.


Phwooooarrr, eh? Look at that bit of stuff.

Dialogue aside, I have struggled a bit with the actual game so far. It's an isometric 3D adventure... it's not exactly Knight Lore, it's a bit more advanced than that, and it employs a "fog of war" technique which keeps large areas of the playfield obscured until you actually need to see it. That hasn't been the issue for me, it's that the game has a lot of menus and I still haven't quite got to grips with all the options and icons.

Still, that's my own cack-handedness to blame. It's not the game's fault that I have a hard time actually clicking on the thing I want to kill. Combat hasn't been particularly exciting so far either... it's pretty much a slugfest at the moment. It's obvious that there's far more depth to Planescape: Torment than has been revealed to me so far, and the banter alone is easily enough to keep me going, with the interesting storyline adding an extra hook. I reckon I'll be getting a netbook soon, and I can easily see me installing this on there and playing through it at a leisurely pace.

Here's what's going to happen.

OK, you're probably sick of reading posts from me saying "I'm doing stuff, honest!".

But I really am! And I'll soon be ready to start posting again... Wednesday, in fact, will be the start of the project I've been working on...

I'll try and put something up before then to keep things ticking over, but the real work begins on Wednesday...

Westbang (iPhone/iPod Touch)

I know what you're thinking... the same thing as me. Bit of a rubbish title, that. And yes, it is... but it does serve the purpose of immediately letting a certain section of gamesplayer know exactly what the game is... a copy of Commodore 64 classic, West Bank.


Die, fatboy! Watch out, granny!

West Bank, of course, is a clone of arcade game Bank Panic, where you are the trusty lawman protecting the bank from varmint robbers and collecting and safeguarding the honest citizens' cash. It's a simple formula and a simple game, and it's pretty addictive if done well.


Look at that. Don't mess with me, robber scum.

Westbang is done well. It hasn't messed with the formula much... it's dispensed with the need to scroll left and right (they must have set the game in a time when Wild West towns had smaller banks), and have added kind of a boss duel draw screen, where a boss bad guy stands, flanked by a couple of minions, and you have to dispatch them all when they draw their guns.


Bit unfair... one on one might be fair. Oh well, you're all going down!

And that's about all there is to it. Chances are you've played and enjoyed a variant of this at some point, and you'll welcome the opportunity to lose large chunks of your day to it again. It's colourful, with nice, up-to-date graphics, the controls are perfect for the iPhone just by the nature of the game, and it's a lot of fun. Best of all, it's cheap... or free, in fact, if you grab it quickly. Do it!

Westbang (iPhone/iPod Touch) - Free!

Netbook, or iPod Touch?

Christmas is coming, and it seems that everyone in my family is getting new tech. Lorraine is already the proud owner of a Kindle, and Aidan will be getting... well, something. Even Ryan got a kiddy laptop for his birthday.

So, I'm feeling a bit left out. To compensate, I've pretty much convinced myself that I'll be having something nice at Christmas. The question is: what?

Originally, I was determined to get a 4G iPod Touch. Mine is 1st Gen, and I love it. But now apps are being released that don't work on 1st Gen, and some are actually apps that I want. It's inevitable that I'll upgrade.

Lately though, I've been thinking about getting a netbook. There are some decent ones available for a pound under 200 quid, and if I had one I could probably keep my blog up-to-date a bit better. The iPod Touch is fantastic for browsing message boards, but as a second PC it's not ideal. The whole family uses our laptop... this way, I could probably have the best of both worlds.

But the new Touch is fantastic...

What do you folks think?

It's all going on behind the scenes...

Hi gang,

Well, it might not seem like I'm doing much blog-wise at the moment... you're probably getting sick of hearing about me playing Deadly Premonition and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. Either that or you're playing said games and you haven't got time to be reading my waffle.

It's true that those two games have taken up a lot of my time lately... and not surprising either, they're excellent games. But don't think that the lack of written activity here means I'm negelcting the blog... ooohhhh, noooo.

I'm actually doing a lot of research, because I've got plans for December and January. You bet I have. I'm going to be really busy with blog games for the next couple of months, there's no doubt about that. So don't go anywhere... it's just you that'll be losing out!

Tell you what though... this researching lark can be a bit of a pain sometimes...

Caught Speed-ing

Oh man, this is awesome.

I'm saying that only an hour in, so I suppose it could all go wrong... but I can't imagine how.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 on the PS2 is, as I have said many times before in many different places, one of my favourite games ever. Not just racing games... all games. I love that game. But after that, things have been a bit hit or miss with the Need for Speed series, as you'll read here someday (soon-ish) when I start my rundown of the entire series...


I definitely need some speed now... I'm last!

I think, in the main, that Need for Speed has a need for cops. They add an extra dimension to the racing that lifts it above the average. I was really happy to hear they were going back down that route, but apprehensive... could they get it right? Then I heard that Criterion were on the case, and I relaxed a little. Criterion are awesome.

And after an hour, I can say that Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is awesome. It's exactly what I'd hoped for from a Hot Pursuit game, with lots more thrown in because Criterion loves us.

It's got aggressive cops - they're going to give you a hard time. And that's a Good Thing. It would be no fun if they chased you and then just milled around politely, hoping you might pull over. No, they'll ram you hard and aim to damage you as much as possible. Bring it on.


Seems a shame to smash a car, ramming a roadblock like that...

It's got decent and aggressive AI opponents. Even from the first race, you're not going to just pass everybody on the first straight and roar off into the distance. This game has opponents that want to win. Again - bring it on.

It's got shortcuts - proper, long offroad shortcuts like Hot Pursuit 2, and plenty of them. This is important. The shortcuts not only give you ways to get the jump on your opponents, but also provide ways around police roadblocks. The shortcuts were an integral part of Hot Pursuit 2... I'm glad to see them used properly in this game.

It looks lovely, and it feels great. Being a racer is as great as you'd hope (and they've given you limited weaponry in some races now, too), and being a cop feels, in some events, as much like a modern-day Chase HQ as you're ever likely to get. The only thing(s) it seems to be missing are the huge jumps... I haven't done any yet. I'm not missing them enough to matter.

This is huge fun, and pretty much a dream arcade racer for me. This is after two hours... I broke off from writing this to go back to the game. And now I'm going back to it again. This isn't a review, just my initial impression... there's loads of game to play yet. Loads of lovely game. It's absolutely clear to me that at least a few of the chaps at Criterion must have played and loved Hot Pursuit 2 at least as much as I did. They get what it is that made that such a great game and have taken all that and put it into this game, whilst adding the best of Burnout and their fantastic knowledge of the online system. Cheers, gang, I can't get enough of this game..

Need for... a faster postal service.

I'm a bit disappointed today. I pre-ordered Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit last week. It was posted yesterday, and I kind of hoped it might be here today. I'm just being greedy, I know. Still, it should be here tomorrow, and I'm finishing work early (a happy coincidence).

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 on the PS2 is one of my favourite games ever, so I'm really excited about this. Hang on... does that make this a prequel?

Anyway, I'll be posting my initial thoughts on the game at some point tomorrow (presuming it does indeed turn up). Somewhere in the future, possibly in the Christmas period, I'll be doing a rundown of the entire Need for Speed series...

Oids (Atari ST)

Oids is a rubbish name for a game. What kind of Oids? Androids? Humanoids? Haemorrhoids? You need to be more specific with these things.

Still, despite that obvious flaw, Oids has gained a reputation as one of the ST's finest games. That being the case, it's always been high on my list of games to play for the blog, despite not having a clue about what kind of game it is.

It's actually a bit of a mixture of games. There's a fair bit of Thrust there, a little bit of Lunar Lander and some Choplifter. I would actually say, having played this, that Gravitron 2 (and probably the original) was as much inspired by this as Thrust.


That's the way. Clear a nice little landing space.

The Oids of the title, so say the instructions, are android slaves (see? Why didn't it say this in the title?) that you need to free from their prisons and rescue. They're held across many different planetoids (oh... more than one type of Oids... now I see), and you must fly in in your V-wing ship to rescue them. As you would expect, it's not as easy as it sounds...

Having said that, at first, it appears as though it is as easy as it sounds. I was quite disappointed as I was able to fly around at leisure and at no great speed, picking off ground installations as I pleased and rescuing Oids with the greatest of ease. The pace was extremely slow and the game was very easy... I couldn't see why this was so highly regarded.


I flew into one of those little sun things once. Don't know where I ended up.

But once I'd got a few levels into the game, it all kicked off. Reverse gravity has a massive effect as you're trying to negotiate the landscape, ensuring you have to take things carefully. Installations will fire at you, as you would expect. They're more devious than that, though... some will launch homing missiles, whereas other, hidden installations will appear and launch a barrage of firepower at you.

Luckily, as you would expect of any game where you control a V-shaped spaceship, you have a limited shield. And of course, you can fire back. You've got your normal peashooter bullets... effective enough to take care of most ground installations. For those things where you need a bigger bang, you've got a mushroom-cloud-laying mofo of a bomb. Satisfying.


Argh! Erm... alright, I get the message!

Once you fill up with rescuees (eight) or clear the planetoid of captives, you can dock with your mothership and deposit the Oids to safety. It's a simple and tried-and-tested gameplay mechanic, but it usually works, and when it's particularly well done as it is with Oids, it's a joy.

When Oids first started, I was expecting a fast-paced blast. It's not like that at all, it's far more measured and a little bland to start with. But a few levels in, it becomes a real challenge and a real test of your gaming skills. Although it's not really a shoot 'em up, it certainly becomes frantic as you try to fend off the planets' defences and rescue the poor, downtrodden Oids. I've had a lot of fun with this game... I can see myself playing it for a long time to come.

Apologies!

Sorry for the lack of posts this week... I've just found myself totally absorbed by Deadly Premonition! It's just so bizarre and entertaining, I find myself going back to it every night and not really making time for anything else. Part detective story, part survival horror, and aaaaalllllll mad.

The voice acting is really good... it really sells the whole story. I suppose the detective and driving parts slow the game down a lot just when you've been battling through intense moments, but that kind of light and shade is good. And the conversations are either so mental or so entertaining that you don't mind anyway.

I've got a few things lined up for the coming days, so keep an eye out and I'll get back to the business of updating this thing. I'm also looking at what I've played this year... there will be a top ten rundown towards the end of the year. I think that Deadly Premonition might well figure in that rundown somewhere...

NaNoWriMoz

I've signed up for NaNoWriMo.

Today.

How silly.

If you don't know what the hell I'm talking about, click the link. Basically, though, the aim is to write a 50,000 word novel... during the month of November. I've got no idea what I'm doing or writing about, so signing up with a week of the month gone might not be very smart, and I'm obviously destined to fail.

On the other hand, victory would be glorious.

This might impact my blog posting for three weeks, but I'm determined to keep it going on a similar to level to that of the last few weeks. This would be fantastic if I didn't have a job that keeps me out of the house for as much as fourteen hours a day, five days a week...

Frostbite (Atari VCS/2600)

I always wanted Frostbite back when I owned an Atari... it always seemed like, if you'll excuse the turn of phrase, a cool game. Never did end up with it, though. Of course, in this day and age it's easy to play the old games, classics or otherwise, either by emulation or other means. I happen to have bought this on Microsoft's Game Room... as well as the Activision Anthology a few years ago.

And I'm glad that I did. Frostbite is a fun little game... what's important is that it's got the qualities that were essential in making a VCS game successful. It's fast paced, it's cute, and games don't usually last too long, making it an ideal arcade-style game.


Nip, nip! Those crabs might be almost underwater, but they'll still get ya.

The object of Frostbite is to build an igloo before the temperature drops so low that it freezes you to death. This being the arctic, that's easier said that done. You have to jump on ice blocks as they float past... each time you turn the ice blue, a block is added to your igloo. Later levels see the ice crack apart causing further complications, but you can reverse the flow for your own means.

Hang on though... that sounds simple! Naturally there's more to it than just that... there would have to be, or it wouldn't be much of a game. Polar critters roam around, getting in your way. If it wasn't bad enough that Arctic crabs, snow geese and clams shove you off the ice into the bitterly cold water, once your igloo is complete there's a polar bear patrolling the ice around your home! Well, if you will choose to live there...


Clams and crabs and bears, oh my!

So, was it worth the almost thirty year wait to play this? I'd have to say yes, it was. Sure, I'd probably have appreciated it a lot more at the time, and likely as not would have played it until I'd earned my sew-on patch. Nowadays it's unlikely you'd play it for more than fifteen minutes at a time, but from my point of view I'm likely to play it for fifteen minutes now and again for quite a while to come. Frostbite is cute, it's fun and it's a great example of just how good Activision could be in those days.

Tower of Evil (Commodore C16/+4)

What on Earth am I doing, writing about this? Well, before I (or anyone I knew) got our Commodore 64s, one of our mates had a C16. When we weren't booting a footy around on the field outside his house, we were likely to be in his room, mucking about on his C16. Although having said that, I only really got to know him a short time before he got his 64, and so I didn't really get to play with the C16 much. I do remember, though, that one of the games he owned was called Tower of Evil, and I might have played it about twice, but it stuck with me and I really fancied giving it a shot, just to see what it was like. And hey, it's nice to bring in other systems.


That's it! The way to the next level. Just got to fight past the Pac-Man rejects...

So, what is it like? Well, it's like Atic Atac... or for me, Wizard's Lair (as you know, I had a C64 but not a Spectrum, so I've never played Atic Atac...). Anyway, it's a game where you have a large number of interconnected rooms that you have to explore. As is the tradition in these games, you have to find treasures while avoiding attacks from the resident monsters...

Considering it's a very early version of this type of game, it's quite interesting. Certain can give you temporary invincibility if picked up, or they might increase your firepower. Handy features, both. Teleport machines can be located around the tower, giving you access to other levels... but putting you at the mercy of other, different tower-dwelling critters.


Ugh. Seagulls. If only I could pick up some fish and chips, I could get rid of them.

It's simplistic stuff, for sure. The character you play is basically Berzerk's Evil Otto with arms and legs. Different levels are defined merely by different coloured walls and differently-shaped beasties. Oh, and as you progress to higher levels, they gather up the nerve to shoot back at you. How very dare they.

Tower of Evil is ancient in videogame terms, and nowadays it shows. It is what it is... there's no apparent variety to the gameplay, although maybe if you get far enough it changes (from my research, the Spectrum version has an extra bit that I imagine the C16/Plus 4 didn't have the memory for). It doesn't hold up particularly well now, although I did enjoy whizzing around from room to room... thankfully, everything moves at a fair clip. I'm glad I gave it a go, although I probably wouldn't choose to play it again... but I can easily imagine that if you bought this back in the day, you could think it was the best thing ever.

Deadly Premonition (XBox 360)

I've just spent the last hour playing a game I bought on the way home this afternoon... Deadly Premonition, on the XBox 360. Don't consider this a review (not many of my posts are reviews anyway, really)... an hour's worth is nowhere near enough to do it justice. I'm just setting down some initial thoughts.

Deadly Premonition is a survival horror game... more specifically, it's a Japanese survival horror, which means it's gloriously fucked up. First impressions, though, are a bit iffy. I mean, it looks like a PS2 game which, given that we're years into the 360's lifespan, is a bit worrying.


Bet I wouldn't have had this problem if I'd bought a Zippo.

Still, right from the start it's interesting, with a bizarre-but-attention-grabbing opening sequence. It's not giving anything away to say there's been a murder, and you're playing the detective sent in to the sleepy backwater town to investigate. And I think it's fair to say that this guy has issues of his own...

Deadly Premonition, as well as being a survival horror game, also has a bit of RPG thrown in. Weapons deteriorate through use, meaning you'll want to carry a few at once and switch between them. But as well as maintaining weapons and health, you'll have to eat, drink, sleep and avoid getting too scruffy. I'm not sure how that works yet, I haven't been playing long enough.


There, there, lads... it'll be alright. Actually, it might not.

I've read a few things about this game in the past few days. Reviews have been about as mixed as for any game I've seen. The graphics have been hit the hardest, but they're serviceable, and what do you expect for a cheap game anyway? I've also read that the controls are bad. Listen, if you've ever played Resident Evil 4 to any degree of proficiency, you won't have a problem playing this game.

So far, I've found Deadly Premonition to be genuinely weird, genuinely funny and genuniely creepy. When those twisted, backwards-facing "Ju-on"-like ghouls appear from seemingly nowhere, moaning "I want to diiiiiiie" with voices like a Rick Astley seven-inch single played on 33 RPM, you'll definitely jump, and quite high at times.


Oh, for Christ's sake. That's just wrong.

Get further into the game and you have to maintain vehicles, and you'll encounter local townsfolk who you'll need to interact with if you're to get anywhere. Seemingly, accepting side missions will give you additional rewards. No idea what they could be, but they can only be good things, I'm sure. I'm looking forward to finding out how it all works, and how it pans out.

So, from my first hour or so it seems that Deadly Premonition is part Resident Evil 4, part Alan Wake, with a bit of the twisted side of killer7 thrown in for good measure and to keep you on your toes. Seems like a winning combination to me... I'm suitably intrigued enough to be invested in it now. Fantastically, as the title screen appears it says "Marvelous Entertainment 2010". Yes. Yes, it is.