Category: Retro Gaming

Gaming, Meaningless Ramble, OffTopic, Retro Gaming

Zelda Fan-Fiction: I Don’t Know Much About Zelda

Occasionally I’m roped into a conversation where I’m forced to admit that I really don’t know much about Zelda. By far my biggest experience was playing the original NES outing on the 3DS some years ago (which I picked up for free as part of their ambassador program), but only making it past two or three dungeons before abandoning it. Following one such admission, I began to think about how to best express this lack of knowledge and decided that writing Zelda Fan-Fiction with this severely limited background would really hammer the point home. This was a terrible idea… but I did it anyway. So for your reading pleasure here it is; a short Fan Fiction introduction to Zelda based on my limited knowledge of the series. You have been warned… enjoy?:   

Link materialised. He winced; the hot desert sun nearly blinded him, his eyes barely ready for the onset of day compared to the … the… non-existence that was before.

“Do I even have a backstory,” he pondered, carefully inspecting his clothes, “I guess I’ve got clothes… and they’re green…” he murmured, to nobody in particular, but genuinely pleased that he had discovered something about who he was.

The ‘green’ thought rattled around his brain for a while and he was just working his way up to drawing the conclusion that he presumed he must either be an elf, or Robin Hood when something else happened. A Ganon appeared: Continue reading “Zelda Fan-Fiction: I Don’t Know Much About Zelda”

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Gaming, Meaningless Ramble, Retro Gaming

Weird Retro Mumblings: Quake -game Reaper

It’s off the back of my recent outings into the various worlds of Strafe that my mind turned back to the title that it (arguably) draws much of inspiration from; the first title in ID’s third major FPS franchise ‘Quake’. I knew from the moment that I first installed this masterpiece of a game that I would be hooked for weeks, nay, years, basking in every aspect of it’s well-crafted…

…. no, wait… this isn’t how it happened at all…  

Quake is unquestionably an important title in the history of FPS games, and one that I experienced around the time that it was relevant; but being honest, it’s a title that I was more ‘interested in‘ rather than ‘enjoyed playing‘. Unleashed on the world in ’96, Quake caught me towards the end of my 16-bit love affair, but before the joys of the PlayStation opened my mind to 32-bit consoles. PC gaming was always something that I had enjoyed alongside consoles (as I mentioned in the pilot of “Please Insert Disk 2“*) and I guess my interest in the platform was heightened by the lull between generations. I remember clutching an issue of ‘PC Gamer’, cover CD proudly proclaiming to have the Shareware version of Quake, on my way home from the shops, eager to see what this hyped game was all about. I installed it, played for about two minutes, and then closed it, baffled as to why this drab mess of brown had warranted such hype.

Q1
It really is very brown

Continue reading “Weird Retro Mumblings: Quake -game Reaper”

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Gaming, Meaningless Ramble, Please Insert Disk Two, Retro Gaming, Review

Please Insert Disk Two: Episode 1 – Banjo Kazooie (Podcast)

Oh yes! It’s not a prank; you can now hear me speak! Introducing:
“Please Insert Disk Two”
A new collaborative podcast with my good friend Chinery

A Podcast you say?… tell me more…

“Please Insert Disk Two” is a collaborative project that I’m venturing in to with a good friend of mine; the aforementioned, Chinery. Having spoken many times about putting a podcast together, we finally moved out of the all important “Wouldn’t it be cool if…” phase of the project and decided to just jump in and give it a shot.

The concept began to form itself in my mind late last year when I posted this piece about ‘Dead Rising’. We all have titles in our ‘gaming history’ that we attach sentiment to; maybe it was a great title, maybe we just played it at a time when we were particularly susceptible to the theme, or maybe we just attach it to a specific time in our lives. Whatever the reason, trying to convey ‘why’ this is particular game is a classic to a friend who didn’t experience this first hand is a tricky business. Chinery and I have decided to embrace this idea, dust off out microphones, and share our thoughts as we each pick landmark games from our own histories for the other to jump in to for the first time.

Continue reading “Please Insert Disk Two: Episode 1 – Banjo Kazooie (Podcast)”

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Gaming, Meaningless Ramble, Retro Gaming

Weird Retro Mumblings: Sonic the Hedgehog on Game Gear was Strange

This post is in response to the most excellent Ian Shepard of Adventure Rules as part of their Charming & Open blogging community event

I think I’ve mentioned before that I’m super into the community aspects of blogging, it really is one of the best parts of putting together these posts and I’m lucky enough to be brushing shoulders with some excellent like-minded people (although diverse in gaming habits and tastes) who take the time and courage to throw community events out there and cause a storm. The aforementioned Ian over at ‘Adventure Rules’ had been teasing followers with the promise of something blogger directed and social for about a week before releasing his ‘Charming & Open’ event, a sort of cultural exchange of questions; so whilst I asked him to reveal all about his guilty gaming pleasure, he posed this puzzler right back at me:

What is the first game you ever beat, and do you have special memories with it?

 … it really is quite a puzzler. Some of my first gaming memories relate to my Dad’s ZX Spectrum, and later the Atari ST (Which I mentioned in one of my much earlier posts). In both of these cases the games were either endless (ie. high-score based) or I simply wasn’t old enough to posses the skill & patience to cross the finish line of a single player experience. I turned to my first ‘proper’ gaming system, or rather sibling-shared gaming system, the battery guzzling behemoth that was the Sega Game Gear to find this memory. My first clearly remembered completion of a single player game was ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’, so it’s no wonder that my turbulent friendship with that attitude fueled blue mammal would continue well into the next generation and define the 16-bit era for me. Continue reading “Weird Retro Mumblings: Sonic the Hedgehog on Game Gear was Strange”

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Gaming, Meaningless Ramble, Retro Gaming

Weird Retro Mumblings: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty… a Retrospective

Spoiler Warning: This post discusses the plot & themes of Metal Gear Solid 2 … also you probably should have already played it… 

Only a few gaming powerhouse franchises sit in the dubiously privileged position of making gamers everywhere say “Sooo… how many of these games are there now?” upon each new offering; spanning generations, decades, and poor numbering conventions will do that to a series. The ‘Metal Gear Solid’ franchise fits comfortably into that mitten with five numbered sequels, a few canon but non-numbered games, at least one sub-series (the gloriously bizarre ‘Metal Gear Acid’ which, and I’m looking at you my secret Konami readers, is due for a PC re-release), a few remasterings, and that’s without opening the pantry door to find the “old” Metal Gear titles from way back into the 8-bit era. It shouldn’t surprise me (but it does) that we’ve recently passed the 15 year marker since Hideo Kojima’s misunderstood sequel was first rattled into PS2 disc trays across Europe and, given that this title probably represents the peak of my interest in the series, I began to turn it over in my mind.

mgs2_1

Continue reading “Weird Retro Mumblings: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty… a Retrospective”

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Gaming, Meaningless Ramble, Retro Gaming

Weird Retro Mumblings: Second Games…

Soooo… Who’s getting a Switch? I’m not getting a Switch… are you getting a Switch?… 

All this Switch talk is getting me nostalgic for console ownership; my various feeds have filled up with first impressions, trailer breakdowns, comparisons, loving sonnets, and angry monologues all in honour of Nintendo’s latest upcoming home console (are we calling it a home console?). Being in the PC party, all I can do is fidget with an overly complicated low-latency mouse and jealously watch as the Nintendo faithful flip-out about the good and the bad and how Mario has now decided to rent a trendy Manhattan apartment and… erm… drink coffee. I assume that’s what people in New York.. sorry.. New Donk City … do. Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to own a number of consoles and those special first few weeks of exploring that new tech are something that it’s difficult to recreate in the PC realm. One aspect about getting a new console that sticks out was the limited game library; sure there was always ‘That One Game‘ that I really wanted, but my parents (And I’m grateful to my parents for buying me consoles growing up to feed my interest) always seemed to know that I probably wanted a little variety so would pick out a second title to go with it… ‘The Second Game‘ … These second games were a curiosity, I hadn’t specifically picked them out, but they nevertheless made up 50℅ of my playing options on this new and wondrous entertainment box. I spent many happy hours on these, often B-team, offerings so the least they deserve is a ramble now that I’ve brought them to mind:

Continue reading “Weird Retro Mumblings: Second Games…”

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Gaming, Meaningless Ramble, Retro Gaming

Em-Bossed: Bosses That Stand Out

In my last ramble outing regarding the upward moving deceased, Pine717 (Who incidentally runs a tight ship over at ‘The Maximum Utmost‘) jumped into the comments box in defence of the Boss fights of that particular title. Pine717 countered that, whilst relentless, the point was to prepare well, study the attack, and make good use of the brief openings when they appeared (feel free to correct me if I’ve paraphrased poorly). Discussion is one of the best parts about blogging and I always appreciate being spun around to face something from a different angle; the comment rattled around in my head, and I began to wonder what I looked for in a good Boss fight…  Continue reading “Em-Bossed: Bosses That Stand Out”

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