Last year, Jordan Mechner teamed up with Liquid Entertainment to create a modern remake of his 1984 beat 'em up classic, Karateka. The modern, 3D recreation of Karateka [$1.99] (which we reviewed in December) does an excellent job of conveying the tragic tale of the poor, imprisoned princess Mariko and the bold quest to rescue her to today's gamers using modern visuals, an original score, and unique, new fight mechanics. Another thing it does is give old school gamers a real itch to go back and play through the 8-bit original. Happily, as of tonight, that itch is easily scratched.
As word of the Karateka remake hit the news towards the end of last year, Mechner began hearing from lots of these gamers expressing a desire to replay the original game on their modern devices. And, so, he teamed up with Olivier Goguel of FTA to bring the original Karateka to iOS (and Android) by way of Goguel's Apple IIgs emulator, ActiveGS (which we first highlighted back in 2011). (more...)
Sure, you might think you're a old school mobile phone gamer if you have fond memories of Nokia Snake, but the real cool kids were busy playing Space Impact [$0.99]. It was available on the Nokia 3310, the 5210, that weird sideways 5510, and a ton of those other bulletproof Nokia phones that seemed to have a battery that lasted for ages compared to modern smartphones. There's been a number of sequels and spinoffs over time, but Space Impact is the core game that every real Nokia gamer knew by heart.
Its available now, in all of its low-fi glory complete with ridiculously massive faux dot pitch for that old school feel:
Admittedly, what once was a pretty mind-blowing game to play on your phone a decade (or more) ago really doesn't stand up that well against the many other horizontal shooters available on the App Store... But, much like Snake 97, it is pretty cool spending a little time playing just for the sake of nostalgia. One weird thing about Space Impact is it isn't iPhone 5 widescreen compatible, but, really, of course it isn't, widescreen wasn't even a thing back in its day.
We're still playing a bit of catch up from GDC, but one of the more substantial under-the-radar releases of last week definitely needs some more attention than it's getting. It's called Fester Mudd: Curse of the Gold [$0.99] and the (currently available) first episode seems like a fantastic tribute to adventure games from ages ago. Set in the old west, you play as Fester Mudd and you need to complete all sorts of classic adventure-y style puzzles to progress in your hunt for endless riches.
It's published by Replay Games, which may ring a bell as they're the same guys responsible for that awesome Leisure Suit Larry remake we saw at GDC. Fester Mudd even captures the graphical style of Lucas Arts and Sierra adventure games:
People are loving the game in our forums, and it's definitely going on the list of things we need to review... So, keep an eye out for that in the not too distant future as we dig out from the pile of GDC games and emails we missed. But, in the meantime, if you even have the vaguest of fond memories of classic adventure games, and you have a dollar to your name, you need to spend some time with Fester.
While a lot of attention is paid to iOS games that seek to replicate and modify the experiences of dedicated gaming devices, one area that has little competition to the mobile scene is the casual genre. Relic Rush [$0.99], from Forest Moon Games, is the latest title from the casual-minded producer and hits a lot of the right notes for a simple gameplay experience. While Relic Rush is a bit short on content and lacks some features that are expected in this day and age, it's still a fun, simple platformer worth checking out.
Simply put, Relic Rush can best be described as Donkey Kong on auto-run. Players take the role of an explorer searching for lost relics. Relics are obtained by taking on missions, with each mission consisting of eight single-screened stages. Each stage puts the explorer at the bottom of an enemy filled setting and tasks him with maneuvering past all the baddies to get to a door at the top of the stage. Reaching the door leads to the next stage and so on (until you get to the last stage with the relic). Getting hit by an enemy forces the explorer to start the stage again from the beginning.
Meanwhile, a timer at the top of the screen keeps track of how long you've spent on the overall mission, with your final ranking being based on the timer's position. When you combine the old-school graphics and music with the above gameplay, Relic Rush feels like a multi-layered retro platformer inspired by the arcade hit mentioned above. While this isn't a bad thing, I did find the gameplay to be incredibly formulaic, with the game's different worlds and enemies only doing so much to add some variety.
Where Relic Rush differs is in the auto-run controls. Your explorer is constantly moving and the only control afforded to you is to stop him (which can be done by simply touching the screen). Enemies and platforming elements are always in motion, so the entire goal of Relic Rush becomes a balancing act of timing your explorer's movements, avoiding the enemies, and getting past the stages in as fast a time as possible. It's an incredible simple system but it still offers room for timing and tactics.
Thankfully, Relic Rush gets a lot of things right in making sure that its simple control scheme succeeds. The hit detection is near perfect, meaning that you (hopefully) shouldn't be frustrated by errant enemy attacks when it looks like your explorer wasn't touched. In addition, while the difficulty certainly ramps up in later stages, the challenge is never overbearing. I'd argue that Relic Rush is a little too easy, but considering its casual undertones, I'm not too going to complain too much.
Considering what Relic Rush gets right, there are a few missteps and omissions that I thought would have helped improve the overall experience. For example, Relic Rush lacks any Game Center support. While I don't care much about the achievements portion of Game Center, I think leaderboard support would be a very nice add, especially for a game based on completing levels as fast as possible.
Of course, in order for leaderboard support to be meaningful, it'd help if Relic Rush also featured an actual timer for keeping track of how long it takes for you to complete missions. Currently, the only indicator is a bar that slowly depletes and changes color, letting you know when you've fallen down a relic tier. While this simplified method of tracking progress works with the rest of the game's motif, I still would have liked something more detailed. This and leaderboard support would have gone a long way towards adding some replayability, an important consideration since Relic Rush currently only has twenty missions (with each mission featuring eight levels).
While the above concerns are important for players looking for some longevity, others looking simply for a casual title with an incredibly approachable control scheme and a cute retro-inspired theme need not look any further. Relic Rush may not have the length or variety to propel it to the upper tier of iOS casual games, but it's still worth a shot for folks looking for a simple platformer to try.
I've played and enjoyed a lot of role playing games over the years, but one genre I could never quite get into was the first-person dungeon crawler. Typically very non-linear and lacking the conveniences of modern-day RPGs in terms of tutorials and guidance, new dungeon crawlers always felt like titles that only appealed to gamers that were already fans. However, QuestLord [$1.99]Â doesn't elicit that feeling of being immediately overwhelmed that I seem to encounter with other dungeon crawlers. In fact, I'd argue that QuestLord's simplicity in both scope and gameplay, while probably a turnoff to genre veterans, makes it a great title for folks looking to get into the mix.
If you've never played a dungeon crawler, QuestLord is a first-person turn-based RPG with an emphasis on exploration. Players initially make a character by choosing from one of three races, each with different stats. In addition, depending on your selection, you're placed in a different location within the world to start. Regardless of where you start, you're immediately given the role of QuestLord and told to travel the world providing assistance to the populace of the Shattered Realm.
As you might imagine, a large portion of QuestLord's content centers around the various quests assigned by the NPCs. From the first task given, the quests do a good job of encouraging exploration and placing players near other quest givers as well as providing ample award for completion. However, the actual objectives definitely lack variety and mainly revolve around killing certain enemies once you reach a location. I also wdould have liked more in terms of story narration and scope as QuestLord's writing is somewhat weak.
Based on the above, you'd think QuestLord wouldn't have much to offer but that's not really the case. The game's emphasis on simplicity goes a long way towards making what it does offer approachable. Stats are divided into three attributes which boil down to attack, defense, and spell points and can be increased with each level-up. Meanwhile, the spell system is based on discovering new spells in the world, a nice incentive to explore every map. In addition, QuestLord also features a robust item system, with plenty of slots and equipment to find. I also appreciated the game's auto-map feature which not only shows the player's location in the world, but also within each individual map (some magical items will even instantly reveal said maps for you if for some reason you don't want to explore).
This all leads to a game that's very manageable in terms of quests, world-size and objectives. Without having to worry about some of the traditionally more complicated pieces of dungeon crawlers, I found it enjoyable to simply explore the world and see what I could discover. It sounds like a small thing, but I think this, combined with the relatively easy difficulty went a long way towards making QuestLord approachable.
While it seems to be a calling card for the genre, one area that I really didn't enjoy was QuestLord's visual style. While I do realize that old-school graphics are part of the charm with most dungeon crawlers, the visuals in QuestLord are a little too classic, with retro graphics that are highly pixelated and a menu/item system and control buttons that just don't look too good. Does it detract much from the experience? Probably not, but it's still something that needs to be mentioned.
Still, I give QuestLord a lot of credit for properly introducing me to a genre that I never really could get into. With a streamlined attribute and quest system, there's not a lot of depth that is traditionally found in other titles. However, it's for this exact reason that I think it succeeds for newbies like me. Assuming you're looking to give dungeon crawlers a try, I'd definitely recommend QuestLord as an introductory taste.
Oh, man, you guys needed to see QUEST LORD [$1.99], like, yesterday. It's a love letter to old-school, first-person dungeon crawlers that absolutely nails the look, the feel, and the trippy dungeon design sensibility of PC RPGs of yore. It also feels awesome on a phone, as the movement and combat mechanics have been tastefully engineered with touch-screens and gestures in mind. It's a blast, in other words.
In the game, you'll be tasked as either an elf, human, or dwarf with saving the world from a "great evil." In practice, this great task breaks down into searching hours and hours worth of catacombs and forests and mountain passes filled with treasure, secrets, and monsters. Earlier this afternoon, Eli and I spent around 20 minutes in the game in the hope of giving you a taste of all this game has going on.
Nineties-era 16-bit gamers who spent time in front of an Atari ST or Amiga might recall a rather unique and atmospheric first-person 3D game with an ominous premise. Archipelagos places you hovering above a chain of islands, once inhabited by a mysterious race known as the Ancients. Long dead at the hands of the Visitors, another race of their own creation, the Ancients' blood soaked into the land, poisoning it and bringing forth the twisted, writhing trees that crawl across the islands. And, standing as evidence of the dominion of the Visitors is a lone monolith and the smaller stones spread about the landscape from which it draws power to keep the Ancients at bay.
Archipelagos is a strategy puzzle game developed by Paul Carruthers of Astral Software and released in 1989 to critical acclaim, receiving an 84% rating in Amiga/ST Format, and a 92% from The One magazine. Original developer Carruthers, who also created Mortal Kombat, Batman Forever, and T2: The Arcade Game for the Sega Genesis, has just released a remake of his 1989 classic, Archipelagos [$0.99], here 24 years later, for iOS (Universal) as well as the BlackBerry Playbook / 10 (with an Android version on the way) under the Anthill Games label.
Yesterday, a game that was developed in 1982 for arcade hardware, but never officially released, quietly landed in the App Store. Gridlee [Free] is a simple game where you maneuver a little green fellow about a grid that stretches off into the distance, blasting upwards at bouncy red figures that try and squash you. That's Gridlee, but that's not the crux of the matter with this app.
As developer David Loureiro explains, Gridlee was developed for the Bally/Sente SAC I cartridge-based arcade machine. It has been brought to iOS devices by way of an emulation wrapper...namely MAME4iOS.
One of the very best gaming moments in my life took place 28 years ago, yet I remember it as vividly as if it happened yesterday.
One evening in 1984, my mother and I drove out to meet my father after work for dinner, after a quick stop at the mall to visit the local Games 'n' Gadgets. On this night, I wasn't just browsing again. No, I had been granted the rare opportunity to actually take a title off the shelf and buy it. On arrival, I wasted no time dilly dallying; I walked right over to the Apple II section, grabbed the game of my desire, and took it to the cash register where dear old mom kindly pulled out the plastic and paid the $39.95. A short while later, over at the restaurant, I excused my 12-year-old self from the table and walked to the pay phone on the wall by the bathrooms. I put in my quarter, dialed my best friend, and when he answered, I looked down at the box in my hands and proudly proclaimed, "I got it! I have it right here! I got Karateka!"
Ahh, Karateka. It wasn't a game so much as a living story that you, the player, were a part of. Within the severe constraints of the technology of the early '80s, designer Jordan Mechner pulled the player into the tragic tale of Princess Mariko, captured by the evil warlord Akuma and held in his fortress high atop a craggy cliff. It was up to you, and you alone, to fight your way through Akuma's warrior defenses in order to save the princess. Your only weapon was your skill at Karate, and there were no second chances -- as in the real world, death came but once, and finally. The game was beautifully executed and wrung true emotion from the player who was often at the edge of his or her seat. For these reasons, Karateka is widely considered to be one of the greatest 8-bit home computer games ever created.
Flash forward 30 years to a time where the machines we all use daily are thousands of times more powerful than the Apple II on which Karateka was originally written. Mechner, who created Karateka out of an interest in film and animation and a desire to convey a story, began to consider how his 30-year-old idea might be realized on today's flat panel displays. To bring this about, he teamed up with Liquid Entertainment early this year and the team set to work re-envisioning the 8-bit classic. The fruits of their labor went live first on the Xbox 360 early last month, and the iOS version [$1.99] has just landed in the App Store.
Back in March we reported that Mike Singleton's expansive 1984 adventure game The Lords of Midnight, which brought a rich and incredible fantasy world to the meager ZX Spectrum home computer, would be making its way to iOS. Singleton teamed up with developer Chris Wild in early 2011 to begin the effort of bringing this true classic to modern platforms, and after much labor, the (universal) iOS version has finally landed in the App Store [$4.99].
The Lords of Midnight sets your band of four adventurers on a quest through the land of Midnight to defeat the evil Doomdark, the Witchking of Midnight. This goal can be reached in several ways; victory can be achieved by successfully destroying the source of Doomdark's power, the Ice Crown, or by recruiting other lords and their forces in a bid to destroy the armies of Doomdark, or by successfully carrying out both efforts simultaneously for the largest victory of all.
The original title was praised not only for its vastness but also for the its use of a clever graphical technique known as "landscaping" to render the game world with pre-scaled sprites in a fashion that delivered a more immersive experience than perhaps any other game of the day. The iOS adaptation features the same rendering style, with graphics that are enhanced, but just as simple as the original.
A sequel, Doomdark's Revenge, followed The Lords of Midnight in 1985, and it is slated for eventual release in the App Store, as well.
Sadly, noted developer and creator of The Lords of Midnight, Mike Singleton, died in October of this year.
Late last month, Rantmedia Games leveled up the state of retro in the App Store with the release of Vectrex Regeneration [Free], their effort to bring the authentic Vectrex experience to iOS gamers. We took a close look at this vectorscopic one-stop-shop, and found that they had largely succeeded, but with a few rough edges just out the gate.
I'm happy to report that the folks over at Rantmedia have been listening to feedback and quick to respond to issue reports and general suggestions. The first update to Vectrex Regeneration, since it debuted, has gone live and addresses a number of issues voiced in my review:
Earlier devices supported — The original iPad and the iPhone 3GS are now supported, with performance improvements on the iPhone 4.
Wireless controller improvements — In the initial release, there was a problem with non-diagonal directional control, which is now fixed.
Joystick sensitivity — Joystick sensitivity settings are now saved per-game, rather than the previous same-setting-for-all situation.
Black screen — A fix for certain (jailbroken...) devices experiencing a black screen on startup.
MineStorm — Garbled lines appearing on level 2 have been addressed.
Box art & instructions — Minor corrections to box art and instructions have been made.
This update notably improves this already-excellent virtual game console, which should not be missed by anyone with any kind of fondness for retro gaming.
Ever since this past March when we first heard that the legendary role-playing game Baldur's Gate was heading to the iPad in a new enhanced version, out excitement has been palpable. Brad and Eli are excited to relive a late-90s classic on the touchscreen, and yours truly has never had a chance to play said title, which I've heard is a crime in the gamer community. Well I'm more than ready to right that wrong as following an accidental release last week, Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition [$9.99 (HD)] has finally landed in the App Store.
If you happen to be an original iPad owner who's been awaiting Baldur's Gate: EE with bated breath, you might want to sit down for this. Beamdog's Trent Oster recently tweeted about running into memory problems with the iPad 1 due to it only having 256MB of RAM, but it sounded like they might have gotten a handle on it.
Sadly it doesn't look like that was the case, as Baldur's Gate: EE requires iOS 6 to install, which isn't supported on the original iPad effectively excluding it from compatibility. That's something that'll likely tick off owners of 2nd and 3rd generation iPads too who have held off on upgrading to iOS 6 for whatever reason. I'd say it's also entirely possible that they checked the wrong box in iTunes Connect or something and didn't actually mean to require iOS 6, but that's just speculation. As of right now the bottom line is you'll need to be running iOS 6 on anything newer than an original iPad to run the game.
If you're among those that are able to play Baldur's Gate: EE, you better clear your calendar. This bad boy promises upwards of 80 hours of gameplay, including some brand new content available as in-app purchases like a new adventure called The Black Pits and 3 new playable characters. If you buy the initial game and all IAP you'll be getting the exact same content as the desktop versions, which did launch last week without a hitch, and it'll be the exact same price. Of course if you don't splurge on the extra stuff you're still getting the entire original game for half the price as on other platforms at $9.99. Not bad.
We will of course be bringing you more on Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition soon, and you can stop by the forum thread to check out discussion and impressions as gamers are reliving - or even diving into for the first time - this classic RPG.
Interest in the retro gaming scene has really expanded in the last few years, thanks in no small part to the proliferation of capable mobile devices such as the iPhone and iPad and the App Store behind them. As such, retro-minded iOS gamers have a wide range of games to choose from, such as retro-inspired new releases, retro remakes, as well as the actual games of olde brough forth through faithful emulation. It is in the last arena that, early this year, Rantmedia Games decided to toss its hat, sharing word of their upcoming Vectrex Regeneration, a one-stop-shop for fans of the much vaunted, early '80s Vectrex console.
We have been following Rantmedia's progress closely since then, and are pleased to have finally had an opportunity to put their Vectrex emulation / game library through its paces. Vectrex Regeneration [Free], a universal app for the iPad (2 and up) and iPhone (4 and up), is now live in the App Store, and here's the low-down.
First, some needed history. Released in late 1982 by General Consumer Electric (GCE), the Vectrex is a highly unique game system. Unlike every other console of the time, the Vectrex features an integrated CRT display -- but not of the standard, horizontal-scan variety. The Vectrex utilizes a vector monitor, which is similar to an oscilloscope and draws its graphics on the screen in a fashion similar to the display process of a laser light show. It's the only console from gaming's past defined by a complete lack of jaggies.
Since August, we've been tracking the upcoming bundle of glowing vector goodness known as Vectrex Regeneration, a universal iOS app that emulates the much vaunted Vectrex game console of the early '80s. The app will come bundled with the system's entire original game library (nearly 30 titles in all) and will offer indie titles released after the Vectrex left market (in 1984) as in-app purchases, along with various feature packs, such as the multiplayer Controller Pack and the iCade pack.
Developer Anton Faulconbridge over at Rantmedia Games has been keeping retro fans closely following this one up-to-date via the Vectrex Regeneration twitter feed, where he's currently counting down to release -- just three days left now -- and offering peeks at the system in action. (more...)
At the ripe old age of 30, the boy that was Prince Adam is now a man. A He-Man, and the Masters of the Universe franchise is back with us in the all-new He-Man: The Most Powerful Game in the Universe [Free]  from Chillingo. And this isn’t just a dusting off of the 80s cartoon toy advert you and I grew up with. It’s a reimagining of the cheeseball franchise that clearly understands its audience isn’t 10-year-old boys any more; it’s the immature men (He-Men?) they’ve grown into.
Everything about He-Man: The Most Powerful Game in the Universe draws heavily upon a delicious retro-ironic conceit, and that was a very wise design decision. So wise, in fact, that I suspect it was actually the saucy Sorceress who came up with it.
Anyway, He-Man and his buddies have undergone a slight change of appearance, hinting at the popular 'super-deformed' art style prominent during the hallowed days of 16-bit gaming. And that’s not all the game borrows from those wonderful times, back when the pixel was king.
Last year, Jordan Mechner teamed up with Liquid Entertainment to create a modern remake of his 1984 beat 'em up classic, Karateka. The modern, 3D recreation of Karateka [$1.99] (which we reviewed in December) does an excellent job of conveying the tragic tale of the poor, imprisoned princess Mariko and the bold quest to rescue her to today's gamers using modern visuals, an original score, and unique, new fight mechanics. Another thing it does is give old school gamers a real itch to go back and play through the 8-bit original. Happily, as of tonight, that itch is easily scratched.
