But thankfully Microsoft have since fixed the fault and all the fun of the fair… uh… Game Room is available to us all. I’ve had a quick play through each game and even purchased two – Tempest and Shao-Lin Road – so thought I would share my impressions.

I do think it’s a nice idea, with the ability to customise your own arcade with room themes, decorations and “mascots”. The mascots are to be purchased, but the rest is all unlockable by progressing up in level, I assume through lots of ranked play. Oh yes, that’s another thing – once you’ve purchased a game you can play “classic” mode which is just the plain old arcade game with local high scores and adjustable dip switches. “Ranked” mode is free play with the default game settings but with an online leader-board and medals to be won by getting beating certain scores, surviving a length of time and for just playing the game for a while. The medals don’t seem to add up to anything though and it’s not clear if they go towards your overall level.

One of my favourite features is the ability to visit a friend’s arcade where your purchasable tokens can be used in their machines to play. What makes this even sweeter is that when people spend tokens at your arcade, you get tokens to spend yourself elsewhere. You can also send challenges to friends to beat, providing you both own the game in question – beat the score or survive the longest. You can pick the number of attempts you get for the challenge, when the challenge expires and so on. All in the name of good clean fun of course, and not at all about sending messages saying “HAHA! IN YOURE FACE LOOSER!!!” No, not at all.

So all good in the Game Room? Well, not quite… I do have a problem with two points – firstly the starting selection of games is poor. There’s a couple of decent titles like Asteroids Deluxe and Tempest but it’s mostly a disappointment. Atari 2600 and Intellivision titles have not aged well and don’t really sit in with the arcade theme, in fact if you buy one they’re displayed as a cabinet with an Atari or Intellivision bolted to the front. Maybe I would be more forgiving if they were cheaper, which brings me to my second point:

To buy a game you’re looking at 240 Microsoft points (£2.06, €2.88) or 400 MS points (£3.43, €4.80) if you want the game on 360 AND PC. Now to me at least this is above my compulsive buy level, at least for such basic games. A quick look into the 360′s Indie Games channel will reveal a number of excellent games for a mere 80 points which may be a better buy depending on how strong nostalgia’s hold is on you.

Really this service is going to live or die on those two points though. On paper Game Room is a great idea and I would love to support it as a consumer, but without some more high profile, later, more complex releases at the same price point I can’t see it being as popular as Microsoft would like. It would be a shame to see the golden age of the arcade die all over again.

So here’s the full first day release list:

Adventure
Armor Battle
Asteroids Deluxe
Astrosmash
Centipede
Battlantis
Crystal Castles
Gravitar
Lunar Lander
Red Baron
Combat
Finalizer
Football
Tempest
Jungler
Millipede
Outlaw
Road Fighter
Realsports Tennis
Sea Battle
Scramble
Skiing, Mountain Madness/Super Pro
Space Armada
Space Hawk
Shao-lin’s Road (Kicker)
Star Raiders
Super Cobra
Sub Hunt
Tutankham
Yar’s Revenge

Quick post but this had to be shared. My good friends at All About The Games report that there is an Amiga emulator for the iPod/iPhone in development.

Details are scant at the moment – it’s nowhere near finished, and of course it could all be killed off any time thanks to licencing issues but it’s sounding promising. It’s being developed by Stuart Carnie who is responsible for the C64 emulator that has enjoyed some success since release last year. Apparently it runs full speed on the 3GS, and gets a “respectable” frame rate on older touch models, so fingers crossed we’ll be looking at some good stuff in the near future.

No doubt the app will be bundled with games, and will have no scope to import your own disk files. I doubt Workbench will be included either as that would open it up to all sorts of shenanigans.

As a big Amiga fanboy (yes, I admit it) and a fan of the iPod touch I’ll be keeping my eyes on this one – expect more news as I see it.

(Source: AATG)

However, I had to blog about this – turns out there was an ST version of Speccy classic Highway Encounter. Any regular readers (ha!) may remember I took a look at that back in September and time had been kind. Well now we can play it with a bit of a graphical update – yay for us. If you are reading this on the main page, then I suggest you click “read more” to find out how, along with more details…

So according to the post on World Of Spectrum, this version was programmed by Mark Haigh-Hutchinson with graphics by the original programmer Costa Panayi. Sadly it went unreleased until the original poster decided to email and ask Costa… His response was pleasing to say the least:

Thanks for your kind words.
As long as the Atari ST version is made available free of charge as stated below, then you have my permission to release it.

Best regards
Costa

So grab yourself an ST emulator, because the game is available right here. It’s supposedly the full version even though it says Demo version on the title screen.

Now, if only there was an Amiga version… It would have obviously been far superior

(Source: World Of Spectrum Forums)

Not that Robocop skimped on the violence and gore of course, and for young Mr Tom aged 8 at the time that was cool. Commentary be damned – Robo was a big-ass cyborg with a big-ass gun who fought a big-ass robot. Due to the 18 certificate placed on the film it would be quite a few years before I even saw a heavy edited version (Once I even called him… Airhead), so the inevitable tie-in game of the movie was all I had.

Initially an arcade game, Robocop was ported to pretty much every platform on the sun. Ocean software probably would have made a Casio calculator port if given the chance. It was the Speccy version I initially owned, but after upgrading to the Amiga I played it on there as well. After all, the huge improvement in hardware would lead to a better game right?

Well…

The problem starts when you consider the Robocop game wasn’t particularly great. The graphics were pretty good for the time, and it felt slick enough to play – but it was just a basic side-scrolling shooter. It blew most of its big tricks on the first level – shooting bad guys, punching men on bikes, jumping over grenades (Robo jumps? Who knew?) and that boss battle with ED209 at the end. Further levels brought in slightly different bad guys but they didn’t add much, and every other boss battle seemed to be an ED209 re-skin.

Things did get mixed up a little bit, with bonus games like shooting galleries and photo-fits adding some variety. It was kind of cool the way they re-created the scenes where Robo rescues the attempted rape victim, and saved the old man in the board room… But in the end it was just another arcade title.

Now Ocean did pretty well with the 8-bit versions of the game (with the music even being licenced for use in an ad for Ariston kitchen appliances), but the 16-bit versions failed to impress. For a start the graphical detail was reduced a lot from the arcade version – the amount of colours has been reduced, walls are often solid colours rather than being patterned, and characters generally look kind of smudged in comparison. Like Robo had got a bit rusty and had been told Vaseline works a charm or something.

The controls are largely the same, with jump being a little more awkward due to there only being one button on Amiga sticks of the day. Either press space or tap down then up. It doesn’t really affect the game as the controls are nice and responsive, and it seem the difficulty has been set down a notch or two.

Although the extra levels are present and correct, it seems the final level has been cut down in length. Not that it really matters; all you would really be missing out on is some identi-kit normal bad guys. Then you kill Dick Jones and get a screen of text as congratulations.

But then all the speech from the arcade version is still present and correct, with Robo reading out his prime directives at the start, and a “thank you for your co-operation” at level end. There are lots men being shot and punched, and the loading screen looks kind of bad-ass and as an 8 year old that’s pretty much all I could have asked for.

These days though, my tastes are far more refined (I like a good menu screen as well now) so Robocop falls well short of what I would call a good game. Maybe it’s because I played it too much and find it easy enough to complete, but more likely it’s because it’s all a bit arse really.

There are no remakes or legal emulation options for Robocop The Game, so you’re looking to go the legally shaky route of downloading from a ROM site. To WinUAE!

(You have 20 seconds to comply)

Back in July Nintendo released 9 of these Game & Watch DSiWare games in Japan. Strangely none were dual screen titles, instead customer got Ball (pictured), Flagman, Vermin, Judge, Helmet, Chef, Donkey Kong Jr., Mario’s Cement Factory and Manhole. Each of these titles cost 200 points.

According to GamerBytes, these titles have now been rated by the Australian Classification Board meaning they are coming to the West. The release date and Western price is not yet known, as these have not been officially announced yet. Makes me almost want to get a DSi. Almost.

(Source: GamerBytes)

So both games are in the one download, and both boast two visual modes. One is the normal untouched graphics and the other will “make the games shine in crisp and clear HD glory”. So a filter like Super Eagle then I guess. Leaderboards and drop-in online play are present in both games.

Release date and pricing has yet to be announced.

(Source: IGN)

It’s good fun catching up with games I missed first time around. In this case, I’m talking about Paradroid ’90, which in turn was a port/update to the original Paradroid on the C64. The Andrew Braybrook programmed C64 original is the best known version, and stands up as one of the essential titles for the old 8-bit machine.

The Amiga version, also by Braybrook, boasts improved graphics and sound thanks to the much more powerful hardware. So I guess the question is cosmetic improvements aside – does the Amiga version fare as well as the classic C64 original? 5 years and a new generation of hardware separate the two games, but does that count for anything?

Read on…

Well, as you might expect the basic game is identical on both platforms. Viewed from a top down perspective, you’re tasked with clearing a spaceship of rogue droids that have taken it over. You play as an Influence Droid, the weakest droid on the ship, ranked 001 of 999. It has only the laser version of a pea-shooter as a weapon, but you’re unlikely to use it all that often anyway. More importantly, the droid has a “transfer beam” which allows you to take over the higher ranked droids.

A take-over attempt consists of a mini-game where you have to light more diodes than your opponent. Success means you are now in control of the defending droid, failure means both defending droid and the droid you are currently in control of explode. If you’re not in control of a droid, then the Influence Droid will buy the farm and it’s game over.

The transfer mini game.

So, once you’re in control of a droid you have it’s powers, which comes in handy if they’re armed. But the more powerful the droid, the faster the droid degrades until it explodes, leaving you as poor old 001 again so it’s important to transfer often. Once all droids on a deck are destroyed then the lights dim, you head to the elevator and choose another deck. Once the ship is clear, you’re placed on the next ship which of course is harder, with higher ranked droids. There are 8 ships in total, not that I’ve ever gotten beyond the second, but I hear once the final ship is complete it loops on that ship with harder and harder droids.

Thus we come to my first problem with Paradroid ’90 – the graphics. As you might expect, the Amiga’s power is used to produce graphics that are miles better than anything the C64 could output and for the most part they fit the game well. The issue I have is that in the C64 original each droid was represented by a number. 001 being the influence droid right up to 999 which was the hardest. Paradroid ’90 is completely lacking these numbers, with individual sprites representing the different droids. As you can imagine this looks a lot better, but it loses that immediate feedback. Generally it’s not until they open fire that you can tell if it’s a danger or not, and even then there’s no way to tell which droid is of a greater rank than another. Eventually you may learn through how quickly they degenerate once captured, or how good they are at the mini-game but the immediacy is gone. A shame.

Compounding the issue of ranks are the controls, which again are mostly fine and functional apart from one issue. To activate the transfer beam, you have to leave the joystick centred and hold the fire button. Holding a direction will fire your pea-shooter, and it takes just a little too long before the beam starts up. This leads to awkward moments whenever you face a droid that will shoot at you, as you dart around trying to dodge bullets and get the transfer beam to actually engage. Unfortunately you’ll find you’ll be getting the game over screen an awful lot because of this little “quirk” in the controls.

Not that there isn’t fun to be had with Paradroid ’90. It requires some investment before you begin to see reward, so perhaps not one for quick gaming bursts every now and again. Nor is it an easy game, the destruction of the Influence Droid means game over, so it’s possible to lose within seconds with a score of 0 if you’re not careful or unlucky enough to start on a deck with combat ready bots. The first time you even clear a deck though and the light goes out, it feels like an achievement. Then the next deck, and the next…

The main game

There are some nice details as well. Each droid feels more of an individual than in the C64 version, and all have their own strengths and weaknesses that can be exploited. You’ll also learn to be afraid of the command droid, which emits a spooky, droning noise when you’re on the same deck as it. In a nice touch the game takes advantage of the Amiga’s stereo sound so you can tell whether it’s on the left or right of the deck.

In the end it feels Braybrook did a better job first time round with the C64 original. There were actually a few different versions but generally only things like improvements to the scrolling were changed. Heavy Metal Paradroid being named by most as the definitive version. Paradroid ’90 is an example of how a game can be changed due to a couple of relatively small changes.

To actually play Paradroid ’90 you’re going to have to go the emulation route. I believe there is at least one remake of the original Paradroid, but for ’90 specifically emulation is the only answer. The excellent Lemon Amiga will be the best starting place, as it’s a superb resource for anything Amiga related.

However Eurogamer are reporting that the app is finally back, all locked down but with 3 new games included – International Soccer, International Basketball and International Tennis – which takes the game count up to 8. They also mention version 1.2 of the app is on it’s way, along with more games and some freebies including Bruce Lee. Hey, shame there’s no Speccy emulator on the iPhone, or you could play the superior version of Bruce Lee!

The C64 app is available now and will cost you £2.99, which may or may not be value for money depending on your views about emulation.

(Source: Eurogamer)

So Bruce Lee on the Spectrum, or Bruce on the Commodore 64 – which is better? Well there’s only one way to find out…

First, a little context. The Bruce Lee game was released in 1984, and was not based on any of his movies in particular. Or if it was, I must have missed that particular film where he fought a sumo wrestler and ninja at the same time as collecting lanterns and avoiding laser death traps. Both the C64 and Spectrum versions are credited to the same 3 guys – code by Ron J. Fortier, graphics by Kelly Day and music by John A. Fitzpatrick. The game was originally released on the Atari 8-computers before being ported over to the C64, with the Spectrum following in the same year.

It’s a great fun game, but very simple in it’s mechanics. Bruce basically has to collect all the lanterns from 20 screens with an evil wizard waiting on the 20^th screen. A ninja with a sword and a green sumo wrestler are looking to stop him. As Bruce you have two moves – a punch and a flying kick. Defeating the ninja or sumo only temporarily stops them as they will respawn. The environment is also dangerous with traps that must be avoided. The two player mode was also worth a laugh with a like-minded friend. You could either take turns as Bruce, or the second player got to control the sumo. Since the sumo could hurt the ninja it meant you could help or hinder Bruce.

The first thing you’ll notice when comparing the games is the graphics. The C64 version looks very much like the Atari version, with a higher resolution reducing the blockiness of it all. The Spectrum version goes it’s own path due to the weaker graphics capabilities, the characters are black and white, with a lot less colour in the environments. This does actually work in favour of the Spectrum in parts, with the Spectrum version being less blocky and the C64 version being a bit too colourful for the game’s own good. When there are so few colours available, things tend to get a bit gaudy. The animation seems pretty much identical, and if there are any differences I haven’t been able to spot them.

C64

Spectrum

Gameplay is essentially the same on both formats. However, the Spectrum version runs faster and as a result feels a lot “smoother” to play. The C64 version can feel almost like the game is taking place underwater, especially with the speed of which Bruce Lee falls. Putting the C64 emulation into NTSC provides a speed boost, although it still doesn’t quite match the flow of the Spectrum version. Of course, if you’re one of those freaky people who still play using the original machines you’re not going to be able to do that.

Strangely on the C64 version, the sumo loses his ability to climb ladders, and the ninja doesn’t climb in either version, so if you manage to get them trapped at the bottom of the screen you can go about your business at the top without issue. However it would seem on the Spectrum the enemies are not as keen to attack, get near the C64 bad guys and you’re more likely to get a good shoeing. What is weird is that the climbing animation is definitely in the game on both versions for both characters, as you’ll see it when they go onto the “lift” areas. A coding issue then I would assume.

The sound of both versions is certainly nothing to celebrate. The C64 obviously holds the advantage, but it’s not a good showcase of the SID sound chip. In fact, quite the opposite – I find the music in both to be quite painful. Thank goodness it’s saved for the title screen. Sound effects only during the game itself, and again the C64 comes out on top with a higher quality of sound effect compared to the Speccy’s sparce blips and bleeps.

C64

Spectrum

No matter which version you choose, you’re looking at a game that’s still a lot of fun to play. It doesn’t fall within the 8-bit trap of being insanely difficult, and has some good and imaginative level design. I would say the Spectrum version edges it due to the speed issues on the C64 but there’s definitely an argument there for the C64.

These days if you want to play Bruce Lee, and your C64/Spectrum has gone the same way as my goldfish (no, not down the loo) then you’re looking at going down the emulation route. World Of Spectrum and Lemon 64 are excellent resources as ever, but of course emulation can be a legally grey area. There is a rather fantastic looking remake available as well called Ultimate Bruce Lee if you wish to keep a completely clear conscience. You good Christian you.

Which ever version you choose – don’t forget to make “comedy” Bruce Lee sound effects yourself… WHA-TAAAAAA!

Also on the menu are Frogger Returns (500 points) and Virtual Console releases for Wonderboy III: The Dragon’s Trap on the Master System and Cybernoid on the Commodore 64. Both of these are 500 points, and for the record I used to love Cybernoid, and it’s sequel even more so.

DSiWare has Bomberman Blitz for 500 points this week as well. All of these releases should be available right now – a good week all in all.

(Source: GamerBytes)