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Happy New Year! (2020 Edition)
A very merry new year to all of you! I hope you had at least vaguely tolerable celebrations last night and that you aren’t suffering too much today. I had a nice quiet one; I’ve never been one for big...
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Saboteur!: Full Spectrum Ninja
The 8-bit home console era is, at this point, pretty well documented; how many times over the years have we seen an article or video purporting to tell “the story of Super Mario Bros. 3” for the...
View ArticleAtari ST A to Z: Neighbours
I have been reliably informed that everybody needs good neighbours, and that with a little understanding, you can find the perfect blend. Of what, I have no idea. Perhaps a nice cup of coffee. If you...
View ArticleFinal Fantasy Marathon: Wild Rose – Final Fantasy II #1
And with that, it’s time to begin a whole new journey — this time through Final Fantasy II, the spiritual precursor to what would become the unusual SaGa series. This is not a particularly...
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Fairune: It’s Not What It Looks Like
Fairune is a game that, at first glance, could be mistaken for an homage to the original The Legend of Zelda, the early Ys games or perhaps even Hydlide if you’re a real hipster. It’s a top-down...
View ArticleAtari A to Z Flashback: Casino
As we’ve previously seen, the Atari 2600’s launch lineup included a competent but fairly no-frills adaptation of the game of Black Jack. A year later, creator Bob Whitehead followed it up with the much...
View ArticleWarriors Wednesday: Dramatic Battle – Warriors All-Stars #11
One of the interesting things about Warriors All-Stars is that its structure changes and varies according to the battles you participate in and the characters you unlock. Today we investigate a...
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Around the Network
Happy new year! It’s time for the first weekly roundup of 2020. Truly, we are living in the future. Except now it’s the present. And we don’t have flying cars and everything is shit. Except for video...
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Saboteur II: Avenging Angel – Dropping the “J”
1985’s Saboteur! is a well-regarded title in the ZX Spectrum’s considerable library of games — and, as we’ve seen, it still holds up surprisingly well today. Two years later, creator Clive Townsend...
View ArticleAtari A to Z: The Upper Reaches of Apshai
Today we delve once again into the Temple of Apshai Trilogy as we attempt to unravel the mystery of what on Earth is going on in the innkeeper’s back garden. Yes, it’s time for The Upper Reaches of...
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Fairune 2: It’s Exactly What It Looks Like
After the first Fairune successfully proved that you can make something that looks convincingly like an action RPG into a two-hour puzzle adventure, the natural next step for creator Yuumi “Skipmore”...
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Waifu Wednesday: Arnice
With Arnice back in the spotlight in our Warriors All-Stars playthrough, it’s only fair that we give her a bit of love and appreciation for Waifu Wednesday, isn’t it? Arnice is, if you’re unfamiliar,...
View ArticleWarriors Wednesday: Let’s Meow Meow – Warriors All-Stars #12
In our twelfth week of fighting for this strange other world, I figure out some things about Warriors All-Stars that might help us make faster progress! So today is all about cleaning up some of the...
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Fairune Origin and Blast: Beginning and End
Fairune and Fairune 2 were originally available as separate games for mobile devices and Nintendo 3DS, but in more recent releases for Switch and Windows PC, you’ll find them packaged as part of the...
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LAMUNATION!: Introduction
One of the things I love about Japanese popular media is its willingness to create manga, anime and visual novels about all manner of subject matter — not just “safe”, predictable options that we see...
View ArticleAtari ST A to Z: Oh No! More Lemmings
How do you follow up a success story like Lemmings? Well, you give the people more, of course! Oh No! More Lemmings was an expansion pack for the popular puzzler that provided a hundred new levels for...
View ArticleFinal Fantasy Marathon: Slot 4 is Cursed – Final Fantasy II #2
One thing you’ll quickly come to learn about Final Fantasy II is that the fourth slot in the party list is cursed. Yes, up until the late game, anyone finding themselves in that bottom slot should...
View ArticleAtari A to Z Flashback: Centipede
Centipede is one of Atari’s all-time classics, so naturally it appears in Atari Flashback Classics no less than three times: once in its original arcade incarnation, once on the 2600 (today) and once...
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Around the Network
Good afternoon. I am ill. I am not happy about this, particularly as I’m just at the start of a week off from the day job… but such is life, I guess. Hopefully I’ll shake it off before too long — I’m...
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Kamiko: Fighting for the Transient World
Yuumi “Skipmore” Kimura is a modern Japanese independent developer who deserves a lot more attention. His Fairune series provides a fascinating twist on the item-based action RPG formula, emphasising...
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