TJ Wolf's Retro Game High Scores

 Retro Game High Scores;

Astro Warrior (MS): 276500

Andro Dunos (NG): 106700

Black Panther (Arcade): 109990

Castlevania (NES/FC): 93200

Double Dragon (NES/FC): 51270

Communist Mutants from Space (Atari 2600): 11220

Continental Circus (Arc): 1449040

Gyruss (NES/FC): 223450

Hokuto no Ken (NES/FC): 59100

Missile Command (Atari 2600): 64200

Nazo no Murasame Jo (FDS): 76250

Nightmare on Elm Street, A (NES/Famicom): 238475

Out Run Europa (GG): 19220

Quartet (MS): 47000

Revenge of Shinobi (MD/Gen): 322400

River Raid (Atari 2600): 22400

Roadblasters (NES): 258462

Road Fighter (NES/FC): 49090

Rygar (Arcade): 81800

Shatterhand (NES/FC): 88700

Sinistron (PCE/TG16): 122600

Super C (NES/FC): 108430

Super Mario Bros (NES/Famicom)

Switchblade 2 (Linx): 60507

Tetris (NES/Famicom): 139361

The Terminator (MD/Gen): 59150

Transbot (MS): 71180

Zippy Race (NES/FC): 12200

Zoom (MD/Gen): 15130

Coded Arms (PSP) Review

Coded Arms (PSP) Review

Year of release: 2005

Publisher: Konami

Developer: Konami

Genre: First Person Shooter

Coded Arm is a First Person Shooter that was published and developed by Konami for the PSP in 2005.

When I saw preview videos of it, I was pretty impressed. It looked great, so bought it when it was released (before I got the PSP for Christmas in 2005). Upon playing it for the first time, I thought it was pretty good. There's a fair bit of input lag, but it doesn't seem to hinder the controls or the gameplay in any way. AI isn't excellent, especially when you trying to kill a few enemies with a sniper rifle. Pretty impressive for a PSP launch title. 

In the late 21st century, upgrades in medical and computer technology allow connectivity of human minds to computer networks. It all takes plays inside AIDA, a virtual reality military training simulator that has been abandoned for quite some time. Despite that, the program continues to run, and enemies and levels are still being generated, You play as a hacker who attempts to break the code for AIDA to extract as much valuable data as possible for fame and riches. This is where the player explores sectors (more on that later) that are riddled with enemies including soldiers, security bots, giant bugs just to name a few. Eventually, the player will have to destroy the boss at the end of the sector. 

The game is split into multiple sectors: 

Sector 00 is basically a training level. Sector 01 is split into 3 battlefields: City, Base and Ruin. Each battlefield consists of 6 levels. No boss. Sector 02 is technically an extended version of Sector 01 with 13 levels in each battlefield ending with a boss and Sector 03 is Infinity, which goes on indefinitely (unlimited levels), but the player must defeat all 3 bosses to unlock it. 

The levels are randomly generated, which somewhat increases the replay value and there are plugins to collect throughout the game. The plugins consist of new weapons, armour and grenades.  The player also collects "Opt_Keys" that upgrades your weapons and health (orange for weapons, yellow for health). There are weapons that the player collects throughout the game which are divided into 5 attributes: Physical, Heat, Electric, Viral and Light. Certain attributes take advantage of certain enemies i.e. mechanical enemies are weak against electric weapons. The player can only carry 5 weapons at a time but can be arranged at any point.

Another feature in the games is a 4-player multiplayer mode which consists of three modes: Deathmatch, which is basically free-for-all, Keep The Mark, where the player must obtain said mark to score points and Last Man Standing is similar to Deathmatch, but players get eliminated and the remaining one wins. 

The default controls;

Analog stick - Move/Strafe

D-Pad Left/Right - Switch weapons

D-Pad Up - Zoom in

Square and Circle - Turn left/right

Cross(X) and Triangle - Aim up/down

L - Jump

R - Shoot

Final thoughts: It's a great launch title for the PSP and the randomly generated levels increase replay value (for me, at least). There's a little bit of input lag in the controls, but that doesn't affect the gameplay at all. It has very few RPG elements, but then again, it wasn't marketed as an RPG, it's mainly an FPS. AI isn't the best, but the whole game is enjoyable. I definitely had fun playing it. 

MY RATING: 8/10

Backtrack (Gameboy Advance) Review

 Backtrack (Gameboy Advance) Review
Year of release: 2001
Publisher: Telegames
Developer: JV Games
Genre: First Person Shooter

Backtrack is a First Person Shooter that was published by Telegames, developed by JV Games and released for the Gameboy Advance in 2001. 

The first impressions about the game: I wasn't really expecting much as it was more of a budget game than anything. There's limited draw distance and the framerate which didn't worsen the experience. Also, It takes half a second to fire your gun upon firing it. The enemies aren't too difficult to kill, which is good. and there are also the captured humans that you have to rescue, which is great and all. Level wise, it's more like Wolfenstein 3D than Doom which was also released on the GBA the same year.

You play as Jim Track, a special agent whose mission is to infiltrate the moon base, rescue the 110  aforementioned captured humans, defeat Domingoaniax's army and trigger the self destruct sequence to destroy the moon base. After that, you have to go all the way to the first level and go through the teleport where you (presumably) came from at the start of your mission. Somewhat reminiscent of Metroid where you destroy the mother brain and escape within a time limit, though this is no Metroidvania by any means. There are also dying soldier that gives you key cards or information on your mission. You also collect an unusual arsenal of weapons along the way, including a vacuum cleaner and aerosol (acting as a flamethrower of some sort).

The controls work like this;

A - Shoot, open doors, rescue humans, talk to dying soldiers

B - Shoot

L - Strafe left

R - Strafe right

Select - Pause Menu

Start - Map

The controls are basic, sure but they are fairly easy to learn. 

Final thoughts: Despite mediocre draw distance and framerate, neither of them don't hinder the gameplay while they're nothing to write home about. I found the enemies easy to handle once I got used to the weapon delay. I like the Wolfenstein-3D style layout of the level and rescuing the dying soldiers is an interesting concept for any first-person shooter. The information from the dying soldiers is useful indeed. All in all, it's an alright game. Though it's not brilliant or terrible It's just okay but enjoyable enough for me, at least.

MY RATING: 7/10 

 

WipEout 2097/WipEout XL (PlayStation) Review

WipEout 2097/WipEout XL (PlayStation)

Year of release: 1996

Publsiher: Psygnosis

Deveoper: Psygnosis

Genre: Racing

WipEout 2097 (or WipEout XL as it was known in North America and Japan) is a racing games that was published and deveoped by Psygnosis and released in 1996 for the PlayStation, 1997 for PC and Sega Saturn, 1999 for the Amiga and 2002 for Mac OS. It is the second game of the series and a sequel to the original game. 

This game introduces the F5000 AG (anti-gravity) racing league whereas the original introduces the F3600 league with the former being much, faster, competitive and dangerous. Weapons from the previous game make a comeback with the addition of new ones (some of which are unused by A.I.)

Gameplay is not much different compared to the original, but it introduces new circuits. Streering the crafts can be difficult for beginners and using air-brakes can often help with tight cornering. The player can take damage from weapons used by A.I and eventually blow up, can recharge their energy through the pit stop, but speed is compromised. 

The player can eliminate A.I crafts usually by using weapins (i.e. launching missiles, deploying mines, etc...) or bashing another craft towards the edge of the circuit, but only the player can blow up when their time limit is reached.  

There are 4 classes to races in: Vector, Venom, Rapier and Phantom (guess which is the hardest). Just like the original, difficulty progress is the standard. The player must win the race to move onto a harder. Also the number of laps increases as it gets harder. The player must finish in at least 3rd place in order to move on to the next track. 

While the soundtrack for the other versions WipEout 2097/XL were composed and recorded by CoLD SToRAGE (real name: Tim Wright) the PlayStation version features an exclusive soundtrack by electronic artists such as The Chemical Brother, The Furture Sound of London, Fluke, Phobek, The Prodigy and Underworld and CoLD SToRAGE himself. 

All in all, It's an awesome game with an nice sountrack to it, and I would seriously recommend it to anyone who still owns a PlayStation. One of the essental titles, no doubt

MY RATING: 9/10

Kick Master (NES) Review

Kick Master (NES)

Year of release: 1991

Publisher: Taito

Developer: KID

Genre: Action/Platformer

Kick Master is an action platform game that was published by Taito, developed by KID and released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991. It shares some gameplay elements with the Castlevania games on NES, but instead of a whip, martial arts are used to fight enemies that drop 3 items that can help hinder the player. An experience system is used for levelling up, maximising HP and MP, and gaining new moves. 

Castle Lowrey is under attack, the King and Queen were killed and Princess Silphee, their only child was kidnapped by monsters under the order of Belzed (the game's antagonist). The king's guards were also killed by said monsters, except for Macren and his younger brother, Thonolan, who happens to be an aspiring martial artist and the game's protagonist. Macren was slain by one of the skeletons who's also under orders of Belzed, and just before his life ends, he pleaded with Thonolan to use his great kicking skills to avenge him once for all. 

There are 8 levels that the player must traverse through to confront Belzed;

Stage 1. Witches' Forest

Stage 2. Cavern of No Return: 

Stage 3. Belzed's First Stronghold

Stage 4. Bottomless Crevasse

Stage 5. Aboard the Ship of Strife

Stage 6. Across the Swamps

Stage 7. Long Way From Home

Stage 8. Belzed's Haunted Tower

The game is complete when Belzed is defeated, Princess Silphee is rescued and Belzed's tower is destroyed. After that, the player is allowed to play through it again on a higher difficulty level. 

At the start of the game, Thonolan only has three different kicks which are: The standing high kick, the sweep kick and the vertical press kick, all of which can be used by defeating enemies. You gain experience by defeating Belzed's monsters, and levelling up gives you new moves;

Level 1; 

Knee Drop. Press B + Down simultaneously. It will come in handy while in combat,

Level 2; 

Sliding Kick. Press B + Down + Left/Right. Can be used for evading enemy attacks and of course, defeating enemies.

Level 3;

Double Front Kick: Press B + Up + Left/Right. Can be really effective when direct.

Level 4;

High Kick to Roundhouse: Press B + Left/Right. A really powerful kick that's worthy of Chuck Norris.

Level 5;

Flying Kick. Press A + Left/Right. Allows for great air mobility

Level 6;

Double Butterfly Kick. Press B + Left/Right. Basically an upgrade of your default kick.

Level 7;

Blazing Flip Kick. Press B + Up. A powerful spinning backflip that replaces the Vertical Press Kick. 

In addition to fighting skills, you also gain magic spells as you go. They can be either found or awarded for defeating magic enemies. Spells can only be used one at a time and the amount of MP used depends on the spell and how effective it is. The spells are;

Bouncing Bulb; 

it creates an energy ball that bounces back and forth until it hits an enemy or flies off-screen. MP cost: 3

Life Up 1;

Restores up to 2 HP. MP cost: 60

Magic Boots;

Let's walk across dangerous ground that can hurt you. MP cost: 20

Twin Power;

Creates a decoy of Macron that enemies will fight. MP cost: 20

??;

It allows you to see hidden items. MP cost: 1

Lightning;

It summons three bolts of lightning, one in front, behind and directly on you. MP cost: 20

Life up 2;

An upgrade to  Life up 1. Restores up to 4 HP. MP cost: 90

Pulse Wave;

An upgrade to the Bouncing Bulb. MP cost: 5

Whip Lightning;

An upgrade to Lightning. MP cost: 30

Force Shield;

Protects you from enemy projectiles. MP cost: 30

Harpy Wings;

Gives you the ability to fly until you get attacked or get hurt. MP cost: 10 per second

Earthquake;

Shakes the ground and stuns enemies on screen for 8 seconds (real-time), MP cost: 20

For a late NES game, the graphics, designed by Kazuhiro Iizuka and Tsutomu Ozawa, are really colourful given the hardware's limitations. It fits the dark fantasy theme. Some areas are bright and vivid, though it gets increasingly darker the further you get into it. The sprites are well animated too.

The music was composed by Nobuyuki Shioda and Yusuke Takahama is just awesome. To me, it reminds me of Saturday morning cartoons (not sure about anyone else) and it fits the action just fine. Both rejuvenating and gloomy depending on the stage

Though it can be frustrating for some people, it's a great game that plays solidly. The experience system, while not common in action games at the time adds to the gameplay and a nice touch to the game, controls are fluid at least. It may take some time to learn the bosses' patterns to defeat them eventually, it's not too hard. 

MY RATING: 8/10