[img width=616 height=431]https://www.retrogamer.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/thunder_force_iv-616x431.png[/img]
Thunder Force IV has been recently re-released on the Nintendo Switch as part of Sega's "Ages" series.
The last 5-6 years have been a marvelous time for the 'shmup' or shoot-em-up. Those of you reading the article are likely already familiar with the term, but for the uninitiated, it's a genre of games started in 1978, by Taito's Space Invaders, and continuing on through the 1980's, with landmark games like Namco's Galaga, Konami's Scramble, Namco's Xevious, Sega's Zaxxon, and later games like 1942 by Capcom, Gradius by Konami, and R-Type by Irem. These games usually scroll, though sometimes they're fixed, or single-screen, they're generally always 2D in nature, where the scrolling, or game area, remains on a single plane, and doesn't allow you to move in a "Z-Axis" sort of way, and pits you as a plane, space-ship, or other character/entity against a horde of oncoming enemies, all bent on your utter destruction.
Continue reading The Renaissance of the Shmup Part 2
[img width=700 height=700]http://rfgeneration.com/podcasts/shmupclub/images/itunes_image.png[/img]
This quarterly report will cover upcoming and noteworthy Shoot 'em Ups. There are a lot of great titles here and you can be sure most of these will be covered on an upcoming play through.
Continue reading Shoot the Core-cast on the Radar: Fall 2018
[img width=700 height=402]https://i.imgur.com/fRrASL2.jpg[/img]
Ah, October. It signals not just the start of Fall and all things pumpkin spice (for better or for worse), it also rings in the season of scares, creeps, and frights. For most holidays, the way in which I enjoy and appreciate them has changed as I've gotten older. But with Halloween, the reasons I love the season haven't changed at all. As an adult though, I'm able to enjoy all the same things in much more elaborate and fun ways. I'm able to get better costumes, get all my own candy, and find bigger, more intense ways of scaring myself. It's for this reason that Halloween has become my favorite holiday of the year as an adult.
In the spirit of that evolution, I thought I'd put together a history of some of my favorite spooky games over the years. These are in no particular order, and this is by no means a comprehensive list, as I tried to shy away from the most obvious choices in favor of more off-beat or oft-forgotten titles. There are also a bunch of games I'm sure would make the list if not for the fact that I haven't played them. So let me know what you think of my choices below, and feel free to recommend your own in the comments below.
Continue reading Spooky Plays: Anthology Edition
[img width=700 height=206]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1946/44854103482_22a090d563_o.jpg[/img]
Here I was thinking that my days of writing about my old game store were over, but a recent event that was closely tied to my days there has pulled me back for one more. Not long ago I was invited to a wedding that turned out to be quite an amazing event for me. What do weddings and game stores have to do with each other? Find out below!
Continue reading Game Quest Gets Formal
[img width=700 height=406]http://www.godisageek.com/wp-content/uploads/yakuza-kiwami-2-review.jpg[/img]
My first exposure to the Yakuza series was back in 2010 with Yakuza 3. I enjoyed the game so much that I have made it a point to play each new title as they release, and after several years and several new titles, I can confidently say that Yakuza is one of my favorite series in all of gaming. However, I missed out on the original two PS2 titles when they were released, and I have never gotten around to playing them over the years. Thanks to Sega's release of Yakuza Kiwami last year, a remake of the original Yakuza game for the PS2, I was finally able to experience the series' origin firsthand. With the recent release of Yakuza Kiwami 2, a remake of the second game in the series, I have now been able to experience an updated remake of what some consider the best game in the series.
Continue reading Yakuza Kiwami 2
[img width=385 height=602]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-115/ms/U-115-S-00550-A.jpg[/img]
In 2005, Capcom released Dead Rising for the Xbox 360. Capcom made their entry into the world of High Definition gaming a memorable one, as Dead Rising was like no other game before it. There were a few years around and following the release of Dead Rising where zombies would rule the roost, as games from both large developers like Capcom themselves, Valve, and Activision, had games or popular game modes that had a heavy emphasis on zombies. This popularity also coincided with the rise of indie games on the PC market, and zombie games thrived there for a few years until fatigue inevitably set in. Most of the biggest zombie games and modes were first person shooters, whether it was Nazi Zombies from Treyarch's Call of Duty games, Left 4 Dead, or Killing Floor, running around and shooting zombies made quite a bit of sense.
Capcom is not known for first person shooters, and instead designed Dead Rising in a completely different manner based around what it did know and had recently experimented with. Dead Rising has a third person perspective where combat is more focused around melee weapons. Guns do exist, but they are clumsy to aim and not particularly powerful until the player has completed one of the most difficult challenges in the game, which unlocks the most powerful gun, and overall weapon, in Dead Rising.
Continue reading Spooky Plays: Dead Rising
Join me for the stream of conciseness that is Neo's "A Brief Look At" series!
This month, we check out Nuclear Throne, a twin stick Roguelike, in the vain of Isaac or Enter the Gungeon!
Check out more of Neo, and the rest of the RFGeneration stream team at http://Twitch.tv/RFGeneration
Note: The audio is a little offset. I'm going to try and fix it and re-upload.
[img width=700 height=393]https://i.imgur.com/togE1Mw.jpg[/img]
Hey gang! It happens every once in a while that no particular topic lights a fire in me for my monthly front page entry. I haven't begun work on my next Black Mirror episode review and I don't want to rush it. So as I have done in the past, here is a more traditional "blog" entry for this autumnal equinox, with just a few things that have been in my orbit lately. Thank you as always for your support!
Continue reading Autumnal Equinox Randomness
[img width=628 height=550]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-061/bf/U-061-S-06200-B.jpg[/img]
Lunar: The Silver Star was a landmark title when it was released back in the early 90's, not just in the combat system and story, but also in the presentation due to the format, that being CD-ROM. And according to history, it was, but I never played that version extensively. Instead, my nostalgia lies within the remake, Lunar: The Silver Star Story (specifically the version translated and published by Working Designs for the Sony PlayStation. This year I picked it up (for the third and final time) with a motive to finally complete it, and I did. It was an amazing experience, and one I would like to share with you all.
** There are most certainly spoilers for Lunar:SSSC within this article. They are very light, and really nothing more than you will find in the "Making of" disc included with the game, but still here nonetheless. **
Continue reading Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
[img width=550 height=619]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-037/gs/U-037-S-03630-A.jpg[/img]
Pictured: When the best graphics were in your imagination.
I'm going to forgo the endless "winter is coming" jokes about the fall gaming release season, and just get to the point: lottsa big AAA games are here and on the way, and that means many nifty games with a smaller budget are swept up in the crowd and I'm here to champion the under-the-radar releases. These are the ones that personally caught my eye (OW!) over the last few months and I wanted to bring more awareness.
Continue reading Slackur's Obscure Gaming Theatre: Under-The-Radar II Hyper Fighting
After a brief Chicago vacation, Duke is back repairing time fragments. This time, it's the lovable, 80s phenomenon the View Master. What memories will this blast from the past unlock? Watch and find out!
[img width=310 height=290]https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/images/15/jan/shmups111.jpg[/img]
In the beginning, there was Pong. And people saw it, and it was good. And the medium of Video Games was born. And people liked it, and many games came, and people played them. And they were good. Arcades were created, and they were good.
And it came to pass, that in the Year of our Lord 1978, Taito did release Space Invaders. And in 1979, Namco did release Galaxian, and in 1981, Galaga, and Konami released Scramble. And in 1982, Namco released Xevious. And they were good. And the shmup was born. And the shmup was good.
Continue reading The Renaissance of the Shoot Em Up part 1
[img width=700 height=466]https://i.imgur.com/7XM5N9L.jpg[/img]
When it comes to gaming a good controller can make or break the experience. This is especially true for Retro Gaming where split-second timing is required. Sourcing parts for controllers can also be difficult such as the button membranes for the NES Advantage so keeping controllers clean and in good shape is paramount. I have a standard procedure I follow for cleaning my controllers and wanted to share in the hope that we can bring some controllers back to life.
Continue reading Retro Repairs: Cleaning controllers 101
[img width=700 height=700]http://rfgeneration.com/podcasts/shmupclub/images/itunes_image.png[/img]
Episode 03 of Shoot the Core-cast has launched! During the month of August 2018, we played Raiden V, the latest in the long-running series of iconic shmups. It originally released in 2015, signaling the 25th anniversary of the original Raiden, and was exclusive to the Xbox One for a short time. In 2017, the game was then released for the PlayStation 4 and PC as Raiden V: Director's Cut, with some additional content, and adding local 2-player cooperative play. This latest entry brings some new elements to the table, and changes up some typical genre conventions, which we discuss. What do we think of this game? Listen to the episode, and find out!
Podcast page:
http://www.rfgeneration.com/podcasts/shmupclub/
Raiden V discussion thread:
http://www.rfgeneration.c...m/index.php?topic=18694.0
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts (iTunes):
https://itunes.apple.com/...re-cast/id1432819542?mt=2
Check out the episode on Google Play:
https://partnerdash.googl...erified%253D1&a=781627472
Thanks for listening!
[img width=700 height=268]https://i.imgur.com/FwoR6QR.jpg[/img]
I was browsing through my Twitter feed during a slow moment at work, as one does, and came across a piece of news that was both unexpected, and intriguing for its potential to change the way traditional console games are acquired.
Last Monday, Microsoft announced the introduction of something they're calling Xbox All Access. Most of the info about All Access is easy to find at this point, but there's some interesting nuances that are worth digging into.
Continue reading Could This Be A New Business Model for Console Gaming?
|
