#0156 Ghouls n' Ghosts

So today I played Ghouls n’ Ghosts. A 1988 platformer by Capcom released in Arcades and then later home consoles.

In this game you play as Arthur again, and you have to save Princess Prin Prin from Lucifer. Again. You all know the drill. Save the princess. It’s dated even in 1988. But that’s not what you’re here for.

This game is a bastard. Straight up. This game HATES you SO much. People talk about difficulty of games these days like Dark Souls, where you need to take your time, learn patterns and exploit them through a series of trial and error while you die over and over again. And the accomplishment you get from FINALLY beating the game that killed you SO many times is such a sweet accomplishment.

People also seem to think this is a unique concept, calling games that are hard “like Dark Souls”. But in reality, this kind of difficulty was around LONG before Dark Souls. Games like this THRIVED on that kind of difficulty.

But the point is, it’s fun! Like, this is a legitimately tight game. The controls are responsive, attacking is easy, I rarely feel like I’m fighting the controls. The graphics are beautifully animated with great looking artwork, amazingly animated sprites, colorful and fun set pieces. It’s just a place you want to explore and just EXIST in because it’s just so gothic and exciting! The game has a self-aware sense of humor that also adds to the joy of the game.

That’s not to say the game is perfect, far from it. This is STILL an arcade game. As such they need you to keep pumping quarters into it. They do this with LOTS of really cheap deaths. Like, take a look at this section here:

See those there? Those parts will RANDOMLY drop you into the pit below you with an ant lion. Now the first two are so far from the edge you can jump out but then look at this shit!

That second one is SO close to the edge of the ant lion there’s no way in HELL you can get out. So you HAVE to know where it is and how to avoid it. Without any hint to what’s coming.

But lame deaths aside, I spent maybe $5 in quarters on this game, and probably would have spent more but I needed to write this review. 

If you’re looking for a punishing platformer that will test your skills as a gamer, this is a GREAT game to pick up. If game difficulty is something that turns you off, this game isn’t going to be an exception.

Next up: Laser Squad

#0155 Forgotten Worlds

So today marks the start of 1988! This was a great year for gaming. The NES was in full swing and was really starting to churn out some gems. Arcades continued to decline during this year as more and more customers flocked to home consoles and more game devs started developing for the NES. The games that DID come out were either not of the best quality, or were soon ported to PCs or game consoles.

And example of one of those arcade games was Capcom’s side scrolling SHMUP Forgotten Worlds.

In this game you play as a HILARIOUSLY 80s Bad Dude trying to fight aliens. And rather than flying in a jet or a cool spaceship you just… Fly…. Space Harrier style, only side scrolling.

I gotta say at the very least it looks and sounds gorgeous. Nice high 16 bit graphics, fun music, and the gameplay is fine I suppose.

Only downside is it’s REALLY not anything we haven’t seen before. It’s really just a poorer R-Type. What it DOES have I have to admit is these awesome stores where you can buy upgrades. Now, a game that is SO gung-ho american I expected the shopkeeper to be either a grizzled weapons merchant, or some large breasted woman in a bikini selling weapons.

What we got instead was… Not what I expected. We got an adorable, kind faced anime girl dressed in what looks like sorcery robes.

Not what I expected at all!

If you’re looking for a good arcade side scroller this one is fine I suppose, you could do a lot worse. But you could also do a lot better, like R-Type.

Next up: Ghoules n’ Ghosts

#0154 Rampage

Okay! As you will notice this is NOT Command Carrier like was promised last time.

I fully intended to PLAY Command Carrier, it looks like a good game, but then I started to look at the manual for the game. It's 64 pages long. 64 pages of mostly dry instructions on how to play the game. I couldn't do it. I honestly couldn't do it. I tried playing the game WITHOUT the instructions but I couldn't even MOVE the dang carrier so I couldn't' do anything. Props for taking a simulation game to the extreme in terms of complexity, but DANG it was just SO complicated.

So instead we have a game that is NOT on the list. Today we have Rampage, a 1986 game from Midway! I love Midway, they've made some of my favorite arcade games including Robotron 2084.

In this game you play as one of three humans turned into monsters through various fashions George the giant Gorilla, Lizzie the giant iguana/dinosaur/Godzilla thing, and Ralph the giant werewolf. (fun fact, Ralph from Wreck It Ralph was named after Ralph in this game) Your goal is to smash up all the buildings while eating as many people as you can to stay alive.

This game is honestly unique. There really hasn't been a game QUITE like this on the list. Not only is the game unique in that it involves a unique style of platforming and climbing, with an emphasis on destroying the play field, but it's also a game where you actively play as the villain. the people you're tasked to devour are the heroes trying to defend their fair city.

Normally I'm absolutely opposed to plots like this, I simply can't enjoy games where I'm actively rooting against the main character, Rampage seems to pull it off for me. There's just such a cartoonish vibe to it. And this disconnects me from those sorts of feelings. The characters are just having SO much fun causing destruction you can't help but root for them. It's honestly a blast.

unfortunately there's really not much in the way of music, and the controls feel clunky and unpolished. But overall the experience has aged surprisingly well.

If you're in the mood for a game about causing as much destruction as you can while playing as giant monsters, you'll have a good time here.

Next up: Forgotten Worlds

#0153 Wizball

It's been a while guys! Alright, so today I played Wizball, a 1987 SHMUP/Platformer maybe/ maybe run 'n gun depending on how ya wanna look at it like that - from Sensible Software for the Commodore 64 and all the other big computers at the time.

In this game you play as a little ball, named Wiz. His problem is some bad guys stoll all the color from his world. So you gotta fight the bad guys and bring color back. The story isn't important, this could be an arcade game for how gameplay-centric it is.

What makes this game stand out is how it's played. You bounce along the terrain. Continuously bouncing in a low gravity world. You can turn and flip and change directions, but you're always bouncing. this is how you move around. Your goal is to collect these little spheres, while shooting hordes of bad guys. Collect all the spheres to move on to the next level.

This... This is a good game! Like, legit! The physics are believable and the bouncing mechanic feels loose and flexible. It's a lot like Mario's Jump from Super Mario Bros. It just FEELS right. It's fun killing stuff, honestly, it's one of the better "platformers" that I've seen since SMB.

Honestly the only flaw that I can see with the game is probably the lack of music on the main levels, and the HORRIFYING difficulty curve. It goes from a nice little tutorial place to pure bullet hell!

Seriously, if you're looking for a really unique shooter/platformer/run 'n gun thing that's unlike anything you've ever played before in your life, you'll probably find something to enjoy here! I love it when this list actually gives me something NEW. But If you're not into platformers, or shooters, this probably won't sway you. If you got a Commodore 64 emulator or even the real thing, this would be worth giving a try!

Aaaaaaand that actually finishes up 1987! Time to award U-G's 1987 Game of the Year award! And the Best game of 1987 is!

Gemini Wing! The quirky and unique SHMUP from Techmo.

Yeah this was actually pretty tough to award. Mostly because while there were a lot of good games coming out of this year, none of them REALLY stood out. No SMB, no Legend of Zelda. Basically what it had to come down to was just which game I would rather come back to the most! And Gemini Wing game out slightly above 1943, and R-Type.

Lookin' forward to 1988. Next game is: Carrier Command

#0152 Sid Meier's Pirates!

So I finally, FINALLY played Sid Meier's Pirates! A 1987 game by Microprose Software.

The game is a pirate simulator where you take the role of a pirate from a country of your choosing and then are just dumped into a big-ol sandbox to do as thou wilt! You can help the English fight the Spanish in their war they got going on. You can plunder towns and other ships, you can sword fight with other captains on their burning ship.

This game really reminded me of something and I just couldn't put my finger on it until I went to a town to buy from a merchant. That's when it hit me. This reminds me of some of the Oregon Trail games I've played. Not the 1971 Oregon Trail, the first game I played on the list, no the early 90s Oregon Trail games from Mecc where you have to balance your crew's well being along with supplies for the long trips you'll be taking. You have to balance how much supplies you'll have vs the weight of your ship. Except rather than just going down a pre-set path, you can go wherever you want! 

But here is where we start to see a bit of the seams coming undone. See, they tried to make this a realistic simulator. So things are really REALLY far apart. Towns, ships, ports, everything will be spread out along the Caribbean. You will sail for DAYS before you see anything of value. 

I also wish the fencing wasn't so clunky. The controls are really unresponsive and delayed. I didn't feel like I was accurately fencing, but rather just moving my joystick in random directions hoping to land something. 

However, those things aside, it's actually a pretty solid simulator. I had a good time! The menus are easy to navigate, the towns are fun to explore, fighting enemy ships and storming towns ended up being more exciting than I had originally thought. Overall i had a good time and I really could recommend it to those looking for a good pirate simulator. Just make sure to hit up the Amiga version for its beautiful visuals.

Next up: We finish up 1987 with Wizball.

#0151 Xybots

Today I played Xybots, a -get this- 1987 third person shooter from Atari! The first 3rd person shooter I've seen on the list and from what I gather, one of the first PERIOD.

you play as a dude named Major Rock Hardy or Captain Ace Gunn (depending on if you're playing first or second player) Your job is to kill robots roaming through narrow corridors. 

This game is YEARS ahead of its time. Implementing two factor movement for the first time in a shooter like this. The normal joystick moves your character left right forward and back, but rather than turning and facing the direction that you press on the joystick, your character strafes left and right. The joystick was built so that it can also rotate left and right to turn your character. This makes movement and shooting a million times more fluid than we've seen in other top down run and guns. This control scheme also meant that I actually had to map the game to a game pad in order to play, which is always fun.

So enough gushing over the innovation and the controls, how's the game? Well, honestly, amazing! I was SO skeptical when I first looked into a corridor third person shooter. We've seen similar corridor style games in Ulima and Dungeon Master, both of which were very clunky and often hard to navigate. While this is still clunky as fluid 3D environments were still their infancy, the fact that you actually move within each "square" rather than pressing a single button to move to the next one feels much better than previous games.

Another great thing about this game is its upgrade system. Basically, you can collect money throughout the level and use that money after you beat the level to buy upgrades for your character. This is the first time I've seen something like this and it's something that's still used to this day in lots of games across many genres, it adds another layer of strategy and decision making.

If I did have a gripe it would be that I'm not a huge fan of the constantly draining energy in a maze game. Your life continuously drains unless you either finish the level, or find more energy in the form of a powerup scattered throughout the maze. the powerups are too few and far between. I often had trouble finishing even the second level due to my life draining and being unable to find the exit or more energy. This causes me to not want to explore the level and just race straight to the exit, despite all the goodies and munchies that might be laying around.

Overall though, it's a solid game, if you're a fan of third person shooters, or shooters in general and are in the mood for something a little retro, this will absolutely scratch that itch.

Next up: Sid Meier's Pirates!

#0150 Shinobi

Game number 150! Woo-hoo! I'm Officially 3/20ths of the way through the entire book!

For my sesquicentennial game I played Shinobi, a 1987 arcade Beat-em-up by those guys from Sega.

The game is a clone of Rolling Thunder, which in turn was a clone of Green Beret. You play as probably the whitest ninja you'll ever see. (It's actually kinda funny how pasty this guy looks). Your goal is to rescue hostages from the bad ninjas. And that's about it. You shoot throw shuriken at them to kill them, and do sick karate moves when they get too close.

The game is fine. Mostly. Remember my Rolling Thunder game from 1986? Yeah it's pretty much that. Mostly.

the controls are fluid, killing things is easy and satisfying, i enjoyed the boss fights a lot.I also will say they really tuned the difficulty here. It's still punishing, but not so much so that I couldn't get past the first level, moving to the right once you know the layout of the level is a lot of fun actually as you know where to shoot, where enemies are going to be, it's really easy to memorize. That made for a better overall game.

Shame my 150th game had to be something so underwhelming. Oh well, I'm sure there's an audience for it, it just didn't really grab me personally.

Next up: Xybots