Seasons are changing worldwide, but one thing stays the same. That's a whole lot of love for retro gaming, and even at this point, we're still a bit surprised by how much love and care the old-school community has for both playing and developing games of old.
The same can be said for consoles, which, in spite of newer and shinier tech coming out almost every month, still have a few gadgets that cater to retro sensibilities. Yes, we're living it up. As the month of April rolls in, we're bringing you a bonafide classic, a cuter take on a badass monster from the East, and a retro handheld that takes the term handheld a bit too seriously size-wise.
If you've got a hankering for some old-school goodness, stick around for your weekly dose of goodness!
First up, a little surprise for all MSX users. If you're a fan of puzzle games and epic kaiju battles but downscaled a bit, then you'll be hyped to know that Paxanga Software just dropped Godzilla Balls. And no, we're not talking about garancho and spheres, because that's the name of the game, quite literally.
In Godzilla Balls, you take control of Big G himself or Japan's favorite scary turtle, Gamera, as you explore a variety of levels while collecting balls and avoiding confrontation. Sadly, no city-wide kaiju battles here, just a whole lot of wholesome fun. As stated by Paxanga themselves, the MSX game runs on 16 KB of RAM and features puzzle exploration and action elements.
The game’s plot follows Godzilla and Gamera is trying to escape the evil Dr. Shorizawa by collecting all the balls to achieve freedom. It's also worth noting that a physical edition celebrating the 70th anniversary of Godzilla might be released under pre-order later this year. So if you're a huge Kaiju fan or simply love our favorite radioactive menace, then stay tuned.
And just like that, we're back with the good old Amiga, this time with the Port of Classic. Fans of Irem's 1980s arcade scrolling shooter Moon Patrol has a brand new beta build for the Amiga, and we are hyped. This new downloadable AGA build includes a lot of improvements from the previous version, and also includes a brand-new city scene. If you're unfamiliar with Moon Patrol, it's a classic title that's widely regarded as the pioneer of parallax scrolling, as it was introduced in the side scrollers that we play today. And there are a lot of games that took influence from this, which is awesome.
In Moon Patrol, you take control of a badass buggy where you drive, jump, and shoot your way across a variety of landscapes, all the while destroying or avoiding UFOs that obviously don't come in peace. Yes, peace was never an option for the Moon Patrol. Now, while this does look fun and awesome, we've yet to determine when the final version's coming out. So, keep your eyes peeled for any news we might have on Moon Patrol.
We've had our fair share of retro centric handhelds as of late, and while they're all nice and sleek, they're a bit on the chonky side. That's not the case for the upcoming gaming gadget by SiPEED, though. The open source hardware platform revealed that they're working on a mini handheld that uses FPGA technology. That being the case, we're looking at a device that runs just like the analogue pocket, which has a different take when it comes to emulating video games.
The retro game pocket is set to feature a two-inch LCD display with a 480x360 resolution, a mini HDMI, and a sweet 1500 MAH battery. This will be more retro than most handhelds, as it'll be powered by a TangPrimer 25k processor with 64MB of RAM, so we won't be looking at PS3 or 3DS titles here. But if you're into NES, SNES, or any Game Boy title known to man, you won't be having any problems. All in all, it's a big 180 when it comes to size, and it's definitely more compact than your usual handheld. And we can't wait till it drops.
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As the first quarter of 2024 comes to a close and things start to heat up, well it's high time we followed suit by bringing you more action. While we haven't failed in bringing you the most exciting titles and interesting consoles this side of retro, we make sure to pick and choose just the right kind of flavor for everyone.
This time, we're going from the mean city streets to literal outer space just to taste that action. In the console department, we got a doohickey that looks to challenge the titans of the handheld industry by sprinkling a bit of old-school ingenuity into some beefy modern hardware. So, if you're ready for your weekly dose of action, you've come to the right place!
First up, we got an awesome combination involving Neeso Games, the ever-reliable Scorpion Engine, and the Commodore Amiga. Three things that you definitely want in the same sentence. While everyone patiently waits for the upcoming Neeso Games arcade platformer Super Delivery Boy, we got something a bit more gritty and in your face but still makes sure to deliver. And by deliver, we mean epic beatdowns.
Vigilante is a side-scrolling, fist-fighting good time that sees you enforcing brutal citywide justice against the usual bad guys. Powered by the Scorpion engine, this port from the Sega Master System looks pretty smooth and snappy in its initial footage. As a work in progress, the first two levels and all sprites have been graphically retouched to complete, with spawning enemies and even cutscenes.
According to Neeso Games, we're just waiting on the boss fights and a few more tweaks before we can all go hard on being a bonafide Vigilante. Best to keep your aisles peeled for this.
Now we're going from punching and kicking goons in the street to shooting up a storm in outer space, but still on the Amiga. Thanks to Coagulus, we're getting an early build preview of their work in progress in the form of some sweet footage. The game in question? A side-scrolling space shoot em up for the Amiga called JetHuntERS.
According to Coagulus, this isn't just a sequel to 2019's JetHunt, but it's also a partial tribute to the classic game Zybex, which came out on 8-bit computers in the 1980s. However, it hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows for JetHuntERS, as the development process experienced quite a few bumps along the way, with bugs to fix and about a year's worth of code getting lost somewhere in between. Still, the initial teaser looks pretty good, and given how well JetHunt was received before, we might just be looking at a nice sequel. Fingers crossed!
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In a world full of brand new handheld devices, both AAA and Retro, it's quite the tall task just to get your foot in the door. I mean, seriously, it's like the release of a new device every other month. Tech's running wild, you guys. That being said, one plucky little startup might have that golden ticket in the form of a powerful OS. Enter Playtron, the supposed answer for the core casual gamer.
Looking back, the AYANEO Next Lite was supposed to be the chosen one. This was after news dropped that it would be running on SteamOS. As we all know, we got Windows instead. While emulation was possible, most gamers were left disappointed, but the 18-person team at Playtron looked to challenge the handheld competition by targeting one huge demographic, the casual gamers. And that, boys and girls, includes the retro side.
The goal is to have seamless emulation of games from the near and distant past, from PS3 to Nintendo FamiCom. Playtron's endgame involves providing a cost-effective OS that can open up more emulation possibilities for other companies. This means more games are getting emulated and, in turn, being played.
At the end of the day, it won't matter which handheld you use because Playtron might just make it possible for you to run just about anything. Interesting stuff, for sure. We’ll, definitely stay tuned for more.
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