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WEEKLY DOSE OF GAMING NEWS: Chopper Duel, Skinvaders, Turrican

Posted by Write Meow · June 20, 2023

We're halfway through June, but not even halfway done with the games that have been coming out as of late. Now, it's no secret that action has always been the theme, and we do our best to spice things up with titles that add a bit more to the genre, a bit more adventure, sci-fi, and sometimes more horror. So if you are ready for our weekly ride, make sure to buckle up.

CHOPPER DUEL

First up, we have a two-player game for the Amiga that takes the action to the skies. Our good friend, Izero79 just dropped a DOS to the Commodore Amiga port for the classic game Chopper Duel. This title was originally released for DOS way back in 1993 by Addict and as an early multiplayer game. So best believe it was a lot of fun.

After 30 years, we can finally say there's an Amiga port for good old Chopper Duel. As one would expect it runs smoothly and should work with all Amigas with 512kb RAM or more. It's also worth noting that Chopper Duel was ridden with ASM and has also been tested with various other Amiga consoles, so you don't have to worry about any helicopter crashes anytime soon.

The game features 50 stunning battlefields, 32 color graphics, and, more importantly, joystick and keyboard controls. If you want some old-school aerial action, then check out the Amiga Port of Chopper Duel.

SKINVADERS

Let's move on to yet another Amiga title that adds a bit more of a twist to the gameplay of a classic we're all familiar with. If you got a hold of 1978 Space Invaders when it first came out, well, hats off to you old timer. Now you get a chance to take that nostalgia trip but with a few modern changes. From the arcades to the Atari 2600, it's making its way to your Amiga as Skinvaders and so far, it looks promising. In terms of gameplay, which you get is identical to the original.

The goal is not only to survive a barrage of projectiles but also to destroy wave after wave of flying enemies. The difference here is there's a bit more color and fresh new sprites. Electric Black Sheep is in charge of development and hard at work. Hopefully, we'll be able to see how skin invaders look soon enough.

TURRICAN

We got an action pack sides cooler for the MSX1. Well not as old as the last two. This is still definitely a Nike classic. Turrican has been mentioned through the years on a multitude of consoles, and it's finally coming to life on the MSX1. Thanks to TheGeps.

The game first came out in 1990 by Rainbow Arts, programmed by Manfred Trenz. It was a gorgeous game, especially for its time, especially with its incredible soundtrack by Chris Huelsbeck. You get intense side-scrolling, shooting action, badass weapons and smooth intuitive gameplay that still holds up today.

As development continues, TheGeps team added a few things with much effort. Like updates to level music, a new main sprite, collectable gems, a scoreboard panel, and a few changes to player movements. It's safe to say that this updated Turrican for the MSX1 is definitely something to get hyped for.

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WEEKLY DOSE OF GAMING NEWS: Nico's Run, Lester, and Ramiro El Vampiro IV

Posted by Write Meow · January 17, 2023

Once again, we're getting a whole truckload of retro games to satisfy your old-school cravings focusing on the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum, our good game devs have been hard at work, mastering their craft and cranking out some quality titles

If you think about it, endless runners are always great-fast-paced and action-packed, but then again, so are sweet metroidvanias bringing all the mechanics that require the best tactics. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about.

NICO'S RUN

First, we got one of the best endless runner games we've seen in a long while. Nico's Run by OldSkoolCoder is a brand new C64 game based on the Chrome Easter Egg Game T-Rex! and it's currently been entered into the Phaze101's Retro Programmers inside Group or RPI Game Jam.

The original game was that fun little Easter Egg on Chrome featuring a T-Rex dinosaur: Having no wifi was, at least, bearable. This game, however, doesn't just feature obstacles like before but is also themed around the creator's two dogs "Nico" and "Aston".

According to OldskoolCoder, it's also thanks to the viewers who helped chime in, building a brand new game about the good of Nico trying to run away from his brother Aston-who just won't leave him alone. Sounds relatable. We always love a good story, and given how it all started, Nico's Run looks quite promising

LESTER

This time we're looking at an upcoming C64 title courtesy of KnifeGrinder that's a tribute to the classic game, Bounder, an old-school title that came out in 1985, developed by Gremlin Graphics. Lester is a high-quality metroidvania for the C64 that puts you in control of the AR2020, a robot sent to liberate a space station taken over by you guessed it, an evil Al.

The creator says "Lester takes inspiration from modern MSX Metroidvanias like Ghost and Minighost, and the old Kanami's productions like The maze of Galious. It originally started as a Hello World project, filling with the TRSE tutorial. Within three years, it became a graphic adventure engine, a Zelda-like engine, a single-screen platform engine, an attempt to convert mini ghosts, and then a standalone game." The game features an entire space station to explore over 60 rooms of Metroidvania action, special powers, 11 tracks of music, and so much more.

If you happen to have a Commodore 64 just lying around, then Lester might be right for you.

RAMIRO EL VAMPIRO IV

The Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum have a new title in town and it brings all the sides scrolling. Goodness, you could want in an adventure. The Mojon twins just dropped the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum game of Ramiro El Vampiro IV, A game that puts you in control of Ramiro the Vampire.

On a quest to collect some ancient scripture from an ancient pyramid. We're getting a game that features high-quality music and well-designed levels set with an Egyptian theme. It features multiple enemy types, such as bats and skeletons, moving platforms, deadly traps, and challenging gameplay.

That's sure to bring out the side. Scrolling badass in every game room. So if you wanna help out Ramiro El Vampiro in beating up a Pharaoh, then this might be a game you'd wanna dive into. See you at the catacombs!

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Weekly Dose of Gaming News - Sea of Stars Gets Massive Support!

Posted by James Deighan · May 09, 2020

Sabotage Studio has raised over one million dollars from over 25,000 backers on Kickstarter for their next project titled Sea of Stars.

Weekly Dose of Gaming News - A Pixel Art Seinfeld Game!?

Posted by Write Meow · May 01, 2020

Jacob Janerka and Ivan Dixon want to work on a beautiful pixel art point-and-click adventure game that is according to them “set in the Seinfeld-Verse” and we're all in!

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