Bringing Past To Present
Archive for November, 2011
30 Days of Gaming – Game 11 : Chase HQ (Amiga)
Nov 13th
Dateline : 11th November 2011
Now this is more like it. Plenty of tyre screeching mayhem, putting the foot to floor and chasing criminals at high speed before ramming them off the road and arresting them. Boy oh boy was Chase HQ a great arcade game ! Surely Ocean can’t screw this one up ? The most anticipated arcade conversion of 1989 comes to the Amiga, and boy is RetroBear in for a shock……..
As loading screens go this isn't too bad, but it all goes downhill from here
30 Days of Gaming – Game 9 : Virtua Tennis (Sega Dreamcast)
Nov 13th
Dateline : 9th November 2011
With a craving for barley water running through his veins, REtroBear tackles one of the best sports games out there as well as one of his own pet hates. You’ll see why underneath he is no member of the Andy Murray Fan Club….
If anyone makes any reference to new balls or balls being out there will be trouble
I hate tennis. Its not really a sport to me, more of a minority one that should be tucked away on some obscure satellite sports channel where no one knows it is there. Sport should never be elitist but the only seemingly good tennis players we Brits seem to produce are either toffs, Scots or Canadians. My hatred doesn’t end there – for me tennis is equally dull to play as it is to watch and besides, the only tennis courts round here are used for football.
30 Days of Gaming – Games 7 & 8 : Frostbite (Atari 2600) and Castle of Illusion (Sega Mega Drive)
Nov 9th
Dateline : 7th & 8th November 2011
Time constraints ahoy so Retrobear condenses 2 games reviews into one entry. First up the ice flow hopping antics of Frostbite on the wooden wonder Atari 2600, and then slipping on a pair of red shorts and some big mouse ears as he tackles Castle of Illusion on the Sega Mega Drive….
Building igloos has never been so much fun.
Man or mouse ? Only your gaming skills can determine which you are.
30 Days of Gaming – Game 6 : WarioLand II (Nintendo Game Boy)
Nov 6th
Dateline : 6th November 2011
Squinting at a small screen isn’t much fun but when a game is a s good as this you can’t go wrong at all. Growing a Village People style moustache RetroBear hops, skips and jumps his way through WarioLand 2…..
Some dozy twonk has left the tap running and that's why the castle is flooded
30 Days of Gaming – Game 5 : Super Pang (SNES)
Nov 6th
Dateline :5th November 2011
It is the most explosive night of the year and what better way to relax than whipping out your own brand of fiery fun. RetroBear must burst as many balls as he can and light up that dark night with the many bright colours of Super Pang…..
There is not much I can add to that - what is a pang anyway ?
The great thing about arcade conversions is that every now and again a machine which didn’t collect all that many 20p’s gets licensed for the home computer market, and then gets a stunningly good conversion into the bargain. Being a decent arcade smash doesn’t guarantee a belting home conversion – why for example could the Amiga not produce a full arcade version of Bubble Bobble whereas lesser versions contained extra elements missing from the arcade ?
30 Days of Gaming – Day 4 : Rainbow Islands (Sega Master System)
Nov 4th
Dateline : 4th November 2011
Time for a spot of island hopping, clad in a pair of rather snazzy blue dungarees. It’s the sequel to one the best platform games ever but how will it stand up under the critical eye of Retrobear ? Zippy and Bungle need not apply because this Rainbow Island is a puppet free zone…..
Up above the streets and houses, rainbow flying high....
30 Days of Gaming – Game 3 : Bionic Commando (NES)
Nov 3rd
Dateline : 3rd November 2011
Going undercover and minus the spandex of Day 2, RetroBear goes for a more bionic look than ever before. Armed with a gun and a bionic extending arm which he uses to tap people on the back from long distances away, it’s the Battle of the Decade : RetroBear v.s Hitler. Hitler ? Really….hmmm well read on !
Yes it is Hitler. Or Charlie Chaplin. Look just see below and you'll find out why it's Hitler
30 Days Of Gaming – Game 2 : Captain America & The Avengers (Sega Mega Drive)
Nov 2nd
Dateline : 2nd November 2011
Unable to contain his fascination for all things spandex any longer, RetroBear dons his own superhero outfit and in true Kick Ass fashion gets his clock cleaned by the Red Skull and friends. Honestly officer, this Spider-Woman costume was the only one they had left in the shop….
This is how it looked in the arcade......see below for the Mega Drive effort
For a time comic book fans like myself longed for the chance to play at being their favourite super-hero. Running round the playground pretending to be Spider-Man was ok but you always felt there was something missing. You had to go to extremes, although wearing ones underpants outside of your trousers seemed a bit daft, and you got some very strange looks. Especially if you hadn’t washed them. Anyway we had the comics and could at least let our imaginations run wild.
30 Days Of Gaming – Game 1 : Dick Tracy (Sega Mega Drive)
Nov 2nd
Dateline : 1st November 2011
Wandering through the criminal underground armed only with a dodgy looking yellow mac and Madonna for company, RetroBear tackles the more seedy people in society as he takes the role of Dick Tracy. Will he be a hard Dick or a limp Dick ? Only one way to find out…..
How many Dick jokes will this review contain ?
There have been many great detectives over the years : Sherlock Holmes, Poirot, Inspector Morse, Lovejoy (OK well that last one is pushing it a bit but he didn’t just deal in antiques you know), but Dick Tracy is a name that probably wouldn’t make it into most people’s Top 10. Largely confined to American comic strips and animated TV series, the first real wind we got of Dick Tracy was in the blockbuster film of the same name starring Warren Beatty, Al Pacino and Madonna.