Sonic the Hedgehog first appeared in 1990’s Rad Mobile for arcade a few months before the first Sonic the Hedgehog game. He appears as an ornament dangling from the ceiling of the car.

I wanted to get that bit of trivia out of the way because it’s often all anybody knows about Rad Mobile. That is, if they even remember the name. I say that because I could never really remember it. Not until I became interested in pre-3D racing games.

This is mostly because Rad Mobile was only once ported to console and never in North America. That is, until it was chosen as one of the games for the Sega Astro City Mini. That’s still a pretty niche platform in this part of the world, so I’m still waiting for it to finally get the spotlight over here.

[caption id="attachment_399105" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

That pesky hedgehog

Rad Mobile is interesting to me because it uses the “Super Scaler” pseudo-3D technique that Sega built their hardware around. It’s best remembered for Space Harrier, but it was used in OutRun and Hang-On. However, both OutRun and Hang-On used raster effects for their pseudo-3D road, whereas Rad Mobile just makes heavy use of scaling sprites. This is the same technique used by 1988’s better-remembered Power Drift.

So, rather than your car driving on a background layer or single sprite, you’re actually riding across a steady stream of overlapping sprites that gradually get bigger to simulate parts of the road getting closer to the screen. It’s as obvious as it is effective. Because it was easy to create bridges and hills using Super Scaler, racing games that used the effect typically had a lot of variation in elevation, to the point where they can sometimes feel like roller coasters.

Despite being designed by Yu Suzuki, Rad Mobile is hardly the best racing game of its era. The floatiness of the car and the difficulty in gauging depth with 2D sprites combined with the first-person perspective makes it feel quite janky. However, it still has a lot going for it and I love it all the same.

[caption id="attachment_399103" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Are we there yet?

Rad Mobile is your typical story about a race across the United States, from West to East coast. This would also be seen in Turbo OutRun and Cruis’n USA, among others. The journey is separated into 20 short tracks, each depicting a different location. Like many racing games at the time, you have to make each checkpoint within a short time limit to replenish your clock. However, on top of this, you compete against other racers on the same trip. If you’re careful, you can drive across the U.S.A. in less than half an hour, so I’m not sure why planes exist.

I’m not sure that Rad Mobile was ever intended to be played with a digital controller. The Astro City Mini version allows this, but most cabinets I’ve seen have a steering wheel. It’s a Sega System 32 board, so it most likely could have been installed in a real Astro City arcade cabinet, but the car controls are so sluggish and pressing an arcade button to accelerate is so uncomfortable it feels like a racing wheel is necessary. Still, it plays okay with a normal arcade stick.

[caption id="attachment_399102" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

A long drive for someone with nothing to think about

A lot of Rad Mobile’s appeal comes from the variety it has stretched across the continent. Some tracks play at night, and you have to activate headlights to get a better view of the road. Meanwhile, it rains on others, and a pair of wipers keep your windshield clear. My favorite, however, is one that forces you to drive on train tracks and puts an impending locomotive in your rear-view mirror, threatening to clobber you if you clip a wall.

Speaking of clobber, there are police in some legs of the race. I’m not totally clear on why, but sometimes, if they get ahead of you, they’ll pull you over. Then, a police officer walks up to you and absolutely crushes your (formerly) radical automobile with one punch. It was a weird era in video games where people beat up a lot of cars, I guess.

One of the strangest parts, however, is the Rocky Mountains. If you slip off the edge of the track, you fall through nothingness for a few seconds before the road reappears beneath you and catches your car. It wrecks your car, but it was at least nice of the level to loop back around to give you something to land on.

[caption id="attachment_399100" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Scaling for consoles

The Sega Saturn version of Rad Mobile, Gale Racer, is something of a strange conversion. Largely, it’s a pretty reasonable port of the arcade game, but it’s also not as good. Mainly, this is because every track is separated by a loading screen, whereas the arcade version feels like one continuous journey. This not only kills the feeling of long-distance travel, it also eliminates the competitive feel of the game. You still pass cars on your journey, but it seems more like you’re doing it for score rather than to win a race.

Also, your speed tops out at around 300km/h for some reason, compared to the arcade's 170km/h. You still move at the same clip, the speedometer just reads differently.

The other vehicle are rendered in polygonal 3D, for some reason. The car also handles a lot crappier. There are police vehicles, but I don’t think they can pull you over anymore. The worst part about it, however, is the draw distance. It’s a lot smaller than the arcade version, which I’m guessing is because the Sega Saturn doesn’t have the same dedicated sprite scaling hardware. However, it could also be because it released in 1994, and most games of that time were rushed for the new hardware.

On the other hand, there’s a two-player mode. The soundtrack is a lot better. It’s also interesting that it didn’t come to North America, because it’s entirely in English. There’s even a text crawl at the beginning that is completely in English, but has Japanese subtitles.

Still, Rad Mobile is better than no Rad Mobile.

[caption id="attachment_399106" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Sega Arcade Arena

Sega seems to be having trouble figuring out what to do with all its arcade classics. They’ve provided a slow trickle of their best games through series like Sega Ages, but a lot of them are still inaccessible. The Sega Astro City Mini is nice, but it’s expensive and works better as a showpiece than as a mini console.

They need something like Capcom Arcade Stadium. Some sort of bigger compilation of their arcade titles that don’t absolutely need online connectivity. That, or they need to let Hamster dig through their back catalog for the Arcade Archives series. Or something. I just hate having to scour through old ports to try and find specific titles.

Rad Mobile is worth scouring for. It pokes me directly in my love for road trips and appeals to me through its weirdness. Too often, racing games are just monotone and serious. It’s no wonder I just cling to any driving game that offers more than just four wheel and an engine.

For other retro titles you may have missed, click right here!

The post Sega’s Rad Mobile deserves to be remembered for more than just its dangling keychain appeared first on Destructoid.

Nintendo has announced that the next game joining the Nintendo Switch Online (Expansion Pack) line-up. Excitebike 64 will be arriving on August 30.

Excitebike 64 is generally remembered as being a better-than-expected motocross game. It was a rather strange title where, if you looked past the rather generic visuals and excess of dirt, you’d be rewarded with a lot of strangeness. This includes a soccer mini-game that the internet likes to call the original version of Rocket League and an endless desert.

It also got an unexpectedly awesome trailer:

https://youtu.be/mVHhNyEQeio?feature=shared

I rented Excitebike 64 back in the day and loved it. When I reunited with it years later, I couldn’t find that same spark. I pick it up every now and then, trying to remember why I loved it so much, and still can’t do it. There’s too much dirt. Too much bike. Not enough excite. Still, remember when Nintendo had its own line of sports games that didn’t involve Mario? I prefer Mario sports games over real ones, but I also love variety.

This is the fourth of five games Nintendo promised us for 2023. Many have been pointing out that somehow Mario Party 3 is currently the one left out. Considering the first two Mario Party games were released in 2022, it’s kind of strange that they aren’t in more of a hurry to complete the trilogy.

It would also be nice if they added more non-Nintendo titles. The Star Wars games, maybe? The Goemon games? Hybrid Heaven? It doesn’t really matter to me, personally, since I have an extensive N64 collection. However, there’s more to experience on the console than just Nintendo’s contributions.

Excitebike 64 will be arriving on the Nintendo Switch Online N64 app on August 30.

The post Get ready for dirt bike soccer, Excitebike 64 gets added to Nintendo Switch Online on August 30 appeared first on Destructoid.

Uh… Hm. This might be a damning way to open a review, but not every games needs to set your loins alight. I think a game industry where every title is tripping over each other in an attempt to be the most meaningful experience you have had would be pretty miserable. Developers should have fun with the creative process. It should be fulfilling to them. Otherwise, we’d just be getting our entertainment from workers on an assembly line. That’s not how art works.

This might be obvious, but I say that because Orbo’s Odyssey did not combust my crotch. I played it because I like the cut of the developer’s jib. Feverdream Johnny is probably best known for their work on Nowhere, MI. They’ve partnered with Ben Drury for this sort of spin-off or sequel to Peeb Adventures. So, I guess I’m here to spectate the creative process rather than have my genitals gelatinized. With that said, it’s still a fun time.

[caption id="attachment_398697" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Orbo's Odyssey (PC)
Developer: Feverdream Softworks
Publisher: Feverdream Softworks
Released: August 21, 2023
MSRP: $6.99

Orbo’s Odyssey opens with the eponymous meeple getting locked in their boss’s office along with Peeb. The door isn’t locked, but neither of them has arms, so they can’t work the doorknob. I can think of a few ways around this issue, but they decide the only two options are to either wait for the boss to come to the office (which he never does, typical manager) or use a device to craft a prosthetic arm capable of manipulating a door. I guess they don’t have buttcheeks, either.

They need to collect little Gear Parts that are conveniently located in product portals found in the boss’s office. So, you’ve got a little problem, a little hubworld, and Orbo’s Odyssey is a little platformer. It’s a micro-collect-a-thon. There are five gears in each world, and it takes a little over an hour to complete.

Or maybe I’m just amazing. I was told the controls are easy to learn and hard to master, but I had it down from the word "go." Actually, maybe I was just told that so I’d feel good about myself. In that case, it worked.

https://youtu.be/Ty8SJzoRNo0?feature=shared

Adventure vs. Odyssey

Beyond running and jumping, you can launch yourself through the air like a rocket. This is the big concept to wrap your head around, as while there’s more to Orbo’s Odyssey than just going ballistic, it’s all centered around your jet speed. There are time trials, puzzles, and battles, but they’re mostly all solved by ramming your head into them.

The real appeal is in the dreamlike visuals. Well, I say “dreamlike,” but my dreams usually involve a lot more noodles. Feverdream Softworks seems to dream about Draculas and businessmen. Their dreamworld is an awful little place where an unconvincing façade and awful corporate culture mix into something inhuman and alienating. Especially when you factor in all the house music that plays overtop.

There’s a lot of screwing around to be had. Scouring environments reveals a lot of strange displays, making it feel almost like a wax museum or an I Spy book.

If you look hard enough, you can see some of Feverdream Johnny’s trademark nightmarish existentialism. This possibly ties into the greeted Feverdream universe, but I can’t claim to be intimately familiar enough to know for sure. Standing apart, it’s mostly just confirmation that your discomfort is warranted. It reminds you that it might not be raining, but you're standing thigh-deep in a leech-filled swamp. It’s the good stuff.

[caption id="attachment_398698" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Box quote

Because of its brevity and whimsical apathy, it’s hard to really give a lot of feedback on Orbo’s Odyssey. It neither disappointed nor exceeded expectations. I doubt I’ll be doing an annual playthrough, but I’ll still be there for Feverdream Softworks’ next game. It’s not that expensive, and it’s maybe healthier for you than eating an entire bucket of ice cream by yourself. Hold on, I can do better. Here’s a good box quote:

“Orbo’s Odyssey is an adequate reason to put your fingers all over your mouse and keyboard.”

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Orbo’s Odyssey appeared first on Destructoid.

I’m not above being lured in by aesthetic. Draft of Darkness hooked me in with its grainy, pixelated photo manipulation. It looks like a tacky game that followed in the wake of Mortal Kombat. In fact, it would fit right in alongside titles that pushed the limits of tastefulness back in the ‘90s. It’s hypnotic.

In my experience, a well-executed aesthetic can be indicative not necessarily of a game’s quality, but of its inventiveness. Not always, but sometimes. My favorite type of game is one where the developers fucked around and found out. However, that methodology doesn’t always result in an appealing game.

Draft of Darkness is so well-executed in its mechanics that it makes them seem accidental. Aesthetics aside, everything I’ve seen surrounding the game makes it out to be this quiet little project by a solo developer. But when you get into it, you find a well-tuned machine. Yet, while I find myself captivated by it, there is one unavoidable flaw that I think is going to be very divisive for a lot of people: its roguelite backbone.

[caption id="attachment_398531" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Draft of Darkness (PC)
Developer: Crawly Games
Publisher: Crawly Games
Released: August 23, 2023
MSRP: $14.99

Dungeons and daggers

In Draft of Darkness, you pick a survivor from an ever-growing list of them. Each one is proficient with their own type of combat, from the knife-wielding Cara to the Chainsaw-swinging Rene. Each one plays extremely differently.

Draft of Darkness is a deckbuilder roguelite, but it plays a lot like a tabletop RPG. Or rather, it plays like a TTRPG if the GM had lost the will to live and was holding you hostage in a ‘90s metal music video. While your abilities in combat are controlled by the hand of cards you’re dealt, it’s backed by an abilities stat system and heavily reliant on resources you gather. If you’re carrying a chainsaw, you need fuel. If you’re carrying a shotgun, you need shotgun food.

Beyond that, the exploration system feels like something a dungeon master would draw out on grid paper. Each one is randomly generated upon entry and filled with a variety of encounters. They take place in an apartment building, in a factory, or on the streets, but they’re all very much dungeons. Your goal in each on is to try and gather power and resources for your party, then find the boss and escape to the next dungeon.

https://youtu.be/9sZE1xr7wvI

Smack the deck

Despite relying on the luck of the draw to give you a good hand, the combat is extremely deep and nuanced. While characters rely on sparse resources to use their strongest attacks, they always have a weaker alternative. The chainsaw maniac, for example, can deal an incredible amount of damage very quickly but is reliant on gasoline. She can still pull off some powerful attacks without starting her engine, which is best to do on weaker opponents.

Usually, you just want to start eating into your resources when the cards start looking stacked against you, like on bosses. However, there are characters who don’t require resources, like the knife wielders. For them, they can focus on critical hits and combos, but with Cara I liked to rely heavily on the bleeding status effect.

There are a lot of nuanced status effects, and playing certain cards in sequence can give you a huge advantage. There is a tonne of strategy from building your deck carefully so you can exploit even the most unfavorable of hand.

[caption id="attachment_398532" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Feed the TV

To progress through the actual story, however, you need to trigger various encounters. It can take multiple playthroughs and attempts before you gain any ground in the narrative. This is where I think Draft of Darkness is going to miss the connection with a lot of people. It is, at heart, a very slow and methodical game, and that doesn’t really click with the roguelite mentality.

It’s a game that asks you to be very careful about your strategy and resources, and then even when you do so, it’s possible to hit the jagged rocks of a difficult encounter. Since so much of the game is random and there’s very little wiggle room, it’s very easy to get your bones crushed between a rock and a hard place. And that can mean losing hours of progress with very little to show for it.

Specifically, a “complete” run can take three hours. If I wasn’t dying at the beginning from resource starvation, I was dying at the end from sheer blunt-force boss trauma. You’re always given tokens to spend at a store that allows you to unlock additional perks. Otherwise, you'll make progress through the various encounters that unlock characters. The store can allow you to customize your starter deck, but you’re largely starting from square one each time you start over. There are few advantages to be had.

[caption id="attachment_398533" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

It's time for plan B

To be fair, Draft of Darkness has an easy mode to help reduce the likelihood of sudden death. If it was such a big problem for me, I don’t know why I didn’t use it. Pride, I guess.

I feel like this is a game that doesn’t benefit from its roguelite trappings. I feel like a more round-based dungeon approach would have suited it better. Complete a map, and move on to the next one.

The mysterious narrative does make good use of the repeated playthroughs, however. The story involves the spread of something called “Darkness” which is used rather nebulously. Sometimes it sounds like a technology, other times a disease, and then others it just sounds like an abstract concept. It goes into a lot of detail without ever being clear on what it’s talking about. The Darkness really just seems to be all of the worst qualities of humanity lumped together. Good intentions marred by greed and paranoia. The inescapable need for progress and prestige. The disgusting aesthetics certainly suit the theme.

[caption id="attachment_398534" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Let the fists speak!

Despite the heartbreak from lost progress, I found myself glued each time I picked up Draft of Darkness. To be clear, you can always quit whenever you want and pick up where you left off. Throughout the review period, I preferred to sit down at the start of the evening and let myself get absorbed in the tacky, rusty visuals. Preferably with a nice greasy slice of pizza to really make things feel like living in the ‘90s.

I say that its successes feel almost accidental, but I know that it’s not true. Draft of Darkness is the result of a lot of careful prototyping and development, as well as inspiration from games like Slay the Spire. Crawly is clearly a developer who knows how to use feedback to create a tighter product.

While I think that the roguelite format is a hindrance on Draft of Darkness overall and will probably be the breaking point for a lot of people, I can’t get past my fascination for the game. While writing this review, I made the mistake of starting the game to make sure I had a few facts straight and started a new run. One hour later, I realized I was supposed to be writing, and had to quite painfully tear myself away. Even right now, Draft of Darkness is just minimized onto my taskbar, lurking and waiting for me to finish my job so it can capture my attention again.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Draft of Darkness appeared first on Destructoid.

Xbox and mattress-maker TEMPUR have joined forces to bring you a chair. But not just any chair. This chair is inspired by the upcoming Starfield. And by gosh, it doesn’t look like it would fit in my living room.

Okay, so before you get too excited, the Starfield x TEMPUR chair isn’t for purchase. It’s one-of-a-kind, and I guess it’s just designed as a way to sell Starfield to butts. It’s going to be at Gamescom 2023, and then it will travel to the “Saturn Xperion store in Germany, before enjoying a month-long residency at the TEMPUR store in Westfield, Stratford.” You’ll need to travel to one of these locations if you want your butt to experience this amazing chair.

The press release goes into a lot of boring information that would probably only interest butts. It’s designed after NASA’s typical space chairs and has a joystick on each armrest (arcade style, for some reason). It swivels, so while it looks like one of those step-in chairs that pull forward, you can just turn it and sit down. That’s pretty cowardly.

I could maybe do without the giant desk, but I would totally be down for a space chair. Gamer chairs these days all look like they were pulled from a sports car, but I want one that goes beyond that. If my apartment suddenly launches skyward, I want to be prepared.

Unfortunately, I can’t buy the Starfield x TEMPUR chair, but I can win it. Before the end of the year, there’s going to be a charity raffle. That’s all the information I have on that, so you’ll need to keep your eyes peeled and your butt prepared.

The post The Starfield x TEMPUR Dream Chair looks like an expensive thing to put your butt on appeared first on Destructoid.

Nightdive Studios has announced that the N64 version of Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion will be among the next games to get the remaster treatment. Not only that, it already has a release date of November 14 and is coming to PC and consoles.

Originally released in 2000, Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion was an interesting turn for Acclaim’s Turok series. It really shows the awkward evolution of the first-person shooter genre in the wake of 1998’s Half-Life. While the first two games were largely just fast-paced key-hunting games like early FPS, Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion incorporated more story elements and cutscenes. It involved two would-be Turoks trying to fight back against an encroaching threat in the wake of Joshua Fireseed’s apparent death.

https://youtu.be/SdCaj5ZRp-A

It’s the last numbered Turok entry and, really, the last good one. The level design kind of gets mired in the muddy brown industrial look of the late ‘90s, and the action isn’t as swift as the earlier titles. A lot of the real Turok identity gets lost in the pursuit of gaming trends. Despite that, it’s an interesting early-3D game.

While Nightdive previously remastered the first two Turok games, a rerelease of Shadow of Oblivion wasn’t guaranteed. The first two titles already had PC ports that the studio could work off of, whereas Turok 3 never left the N64. However, since they were able to “reverse engineer” and provide the N64 campaign of Quake 2, I had hoped that they put in the effort because they were working on a port to Turok 3. And sure enough…

Does this mean we'll get Turok: Rage Wars someday?

Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion is getting the KEX Engine treatment. Nightdive is boasting a lot of the same enhancements that the Quake 2 remaster received, including real-time lighting and updated models. It’s coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch on November 14.

The post Remaster of tentacle-filled Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion coming from Nightdive Studios November 14 appeared first on Destructoid.

Full disclosure to start off with: the reason I’m not doing a formal scored review of Wrestlequest is because I did a stint of remote freelance writing for the developer, Mega Cat Studios. It wasn’t anything glamorous, but I got the opportunity during one of the lowest points in my life. COVID was in full swing, and I had lost my job. It helped me hold onto a shred of self-worth for a while. I faded off shortly after, but I enjoyed the time I spent collaborating with them.

I didn’t work on WrestleQuest, though. The closest I came was when I was asked if it looked like one of the crowd members was flipping the middle finger. I didn’t even remember that until I noticed that same crowd member.

Anyway, the real reason I’m playing WrestleQuest is because of Macho Man Randy Savage featuring prominently. He was one of the finest entertainers of all time, absolutely captivating whether he was dropping elbows or hocking nitrite-filled meat sticks. Sometimes you just have to load up one of his promos to feel better. Unfortunately, WrestleQuest doesn’t carry the same macho charisma.

[caption id="attachment_398014" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

WrestleQuest (PC [Reviewed], Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, Switch)
Developer: Mega Cat Studios
Publisher: Skybound Games
Released: August 22, 2023
MSRP: $29.99

While WrestleQuest is chiefly an RPG in the Japanese style of wrestling, it has another wrinkle in the fact that it’s all communicated through toys. While everything is kept legally distinct, you’ll no doubt spot a few classic playthings scattered around the thematic world.

However, the most important part of the toy theme is that it allows for a divorce from actual wrestling history. It certainly taps into the ebb and flow of the industry and alludes to things like Vince McMahon Jr.’s crusade against smaller promotions in forming the WWF. However, the protagonists are all (mostly) original characters, and the events of the game don’t require any knowledge of wrestling to know what’s going on.

You play as alternating parties that you switch to throughout the story. Macho Man heads none of them, but one of them stars a Mexican counterpart named Muchacho Man. It works. The story about the protagonists taking different routes to rise in the world of professional wrestling is enjoyable.

At the same time, you’ll see greats like Andre the Giant and Junkyard Dog mixed in as summons. It’s a decent tribute to pro wrestling while also allowing for unique storytelling.

[caption id="attachment_398015" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Cuppa coffee in the big time

As a game, however, Wrestlequest is just okay. It uses a Super Mario RPG system where you can improve the effects of your attacks and defenses with timed button presses. The downside is that these are presented more as QTE, and some attacks are absolutely useless (or don’t work at all) unless you manage to pull off the QTE. It’s okay, at first, but having to repeat these sequences every time you want to use a move gets really tiresome.

Your characters also wind up learning way too many special attacks. One character learns multiple different versions of the same attack, each with a different elemental effect. However, if enemies are weak against certain elements, I never really found a good example of it. I mostly just rotated between them, trying to figure out if they were weak against fire or microwave.

The difference between attacks was often mystifying to me. What benefits did each hold? I could never tell. For every other character, out of the dozens of moves they learned, I’d often just stick to two or three that seemed to have the best effect.

The dungeons are another matter. I appreciate the fact that there are no random encounters and a dead enemy stays buried, but I feel like Wrestlequest’s wonky difficulty makes it necessary to fight everything. Or not. There were sections where I had to tip-toe between encounters to keep my party alive and others where it felt like I was extremely overpowered. I guess that’s the scripted nature of wrestling.

[caption id="attachment_398016" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Spice so nice, brother

I also feel like Wrestlequest doesn’t cash in on the wrestling theme very well. There are custom walk-ons, a hype meter where you excite the crowd for bonuses, and special goals in some matches where you have to put over your opponent to increase the drama. However, only the hype meter is present in smaller battles.

I think it would have been more beneficial to Wrestlequest’s mechanics if it focused more on boss battles. Less combat would have made the QTEs more tolerable and got more mileage out of the theme and the mechanics built around it. Even if some bosses repeated, it would still feel more like wrestling.

Actually, a lot of its design would have been better if it was smaller. I put dozens of hours into Wrestlequest and still haven’t seen the ending. I’m not sure I ever will. It’s certainly ambitious to try and meet the runtime of games like the genre greats like Final Fantasy VI, but it resulted in a lot of bloat that is difficult to sort through.

[caption id="attachment_398018" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Art thou bored!?

It feels like a lot of time was spent on crafting a big game, and not enough of it was spent tightening up what was there. At the very least, its themes and visuals help it stand out from the glut of Kemco JRPGs on digital marketplaces.

To be certain, Wrestlequest isn’t a bad game, but it doesn’t quite feel like the main event it should be. There are a lot of great ideas mixed in here, but they’re piled on by unnecessary bloat. An infectious love for the subject matter doesn’t quite manage to hide all the flaws. It’s got the spice, but not the execution.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post WrestleQuest brings the spice but fumbles the execution appeared first on Destructoid.

A new trailer was shown off for Mortal Kombat 1 as part of the Gamescom Opening Night Live stream. Beyond being another peek at the narrative, there are a few character reveals, as well.

https://youtu.be/nr4lA4N9lFU

At this point, I thought we'd seen the entire roster, but it looks like that isn't the case. Both the legendary Mortal Kombat boss Shao Kahn and his Queen, Sindel, have been shown off.  We also get a closer look at a younger, spunkier Raiden. Mortal Kombat 3 sub-boss Motaro also appears as a pretty awesome-looking Kameo. Uh, I think I know who I'm picking.

You know, If Liu Kang was trying to remake the universe to be a more peaceful and prosperous place to live, I'm not sure why he'd bring back Shao Kahn. At least now, he seems to exist beneath the heel of Sindel, which is a bit of a flip.

Uhh, so does this mean there's still a chance that I'll get Sheeva? Please?

Mortal Kombat 1 comes out September 19, 2023 to PC, Switch, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5.

The post New Mortal Kombat 1 trailer reveals Shao Kahn and Sindel appeared first on Destructoid.

As part of the Gamescom Opening Night Live trailer, CD Projekt Red showed off some of the upgrades that are coming to the Cyberpunk 2077 base game and its expansion, Phantom Liberty.

Most of this stuff was already shown off, but it's some appreciable features. The perk system is getting overhauled, new weapons and vehicles are being added, and a number of systems and mechanics are getting brushed up. Not all of it looks completely revolutionary, but they did give a peak at the upgraded police system and showed off vehicular weaponry. Both of which I think will definitely improve the moments between narrative.

https://youtu.be/zBrkG3aeWCc

They're also finally implementing a Relic upgrade screen. It was viewable on the base game, but for whatever reason, it wasn't implemented. When I played through, I was saving upgrade points for when it would eventually unlock, but I got impatient and looked it up and found out that there wasn't a talent tree for it. What a tease.

There are a few other bullet points that sound interesting, including an increased level cap, upgraded combat AI, and redesigned cyberware. I'm hoping that you can now have more visible cyberware, but I'm not holding my breath. I thought Cyberpunk 2077 was a bit up its own ass when it came to showing off its production values, but I'm still looking forward to the expansion.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty expansion releases on September 26, 2023. Even if you're not interested in the new narrative, the Update 2.0 overhauls will be incorporated for free into the base version.

The post Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty trailer shows off some of the upcoming overhauls appeared first on Destructoid.

As part of the Gamescom kickoff stream, Microsoft has announced the 2021 RTS Age of Empires IV is launching on Xbox consoles right now!

Developed by Relic Entertainment and released for PC in 2021, Age of Empires IV continues the long-running franchise. Considering it was published by Xbox Game Studios, it's surprising it took this long, but real-time strategy has long been a poor fit for consoles. Microsoft touts that this version will be reworked a bit to accommodate the controller interface.

https://youtu.be/yn4hP2eL0K8

I haven't played Age of Empires since the original 1997 release, but this one was well-received on its PC launch. So, that's cool.

Age of Empires IV is currently available on PC, and launches on Xbox platforms right now.

The post Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition is available on Xbox right now! appeared first on Destructoid.

Atari has partnered with Plaion to recreate its classic entry in the console landscape. The Atari 2600+ will play games from both the 2600 and 7800 consoles.

The Atari 2600+ is based on the classic wood-grained, four-switch model of the console, which has become the most recognizable look for it. It comes with a reproduction CX40 controller and supports USB power and HDMI. Also, the Atari logo lights up when it’s on. It comes packed in with a 10-in-1 cartridge that has a selection of classic games.

https://youtu.be/SgAcNwG5vCo

The store page also says that it has “been lovingly recreated to the same specifications as the original,” which is kind of vague. I mostly want to know whether the hardware is similar to the original, if it uses FPGA, or if it’s software emulation. It sounds like the latter since it touts a Rockchip 3128 SOC microprocessor. Most games are compatible, as seen in this list. The Atari 2600+’s HDMI is certainly tantalizing since the hardware had previously only supported RF-out. I had actually modified my personal Atari 2600 to support composite out. Modern TVs, even late-era CRTs, tend to hate RF signals.

I wish more companies would do this. Being a retro gamer progressively requires more soldering skills to maintain and modify consoles to work on modern setups. Would I buy an official NES from Nintendo that supports HDMI? Absolutely yes. On the other hand, would I buy a reproduction Atari Jaguar? Yeah, actually, I totally would. The fact that Atari has even gotten into producing new titles for their old consoles is just more tempting.

The Atari 2600+ is available for preorder now for $129.99 USD. The console is expected to ship November 2023.

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I have an unhealthy fascination with advergames. Well, advertising in general, but advertising has gotten so boring since we started expecting companies to tell the truth and not try to kill us too blatantly. Advertising games in general aren’t super common anymore, usually relegated to browser or mobile platforms.

It’s not that I expect them to be good. Outside of a few exceptions, they’re usually not. At the very best, they’re inoffensive, but at worst, we have Mr. Pibb. Otherwise known as Mr. Pibb: The 3D Interactive Game. It might potentially be the worst first-person shooter I’ve ever played, but to truly confirm that, I’d have to delve through the fog of repressed trauma, and I don’t think it’s worth it.

[caption id="attachment_397812" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

The brand that failed medical school

Mr. Pibb is essentially Coca-Cola’s version of Dr. Pepper. Or it was. It’s now sold as Pibb Xtra. I don’t think it was ever really sold here in Canada, or if it was, it was like Mello Yello in that it was only briefly marketed here.

For a short while – and this is all stuff I’m essentially learning right now – it was marketed using a character with the obvious name of Mr. Pibb. I’m curious to look up an old commercial, but I’ve heard his voice enough playing through this game, and I really don’t want to subject myself to it any further.

Released in 1998 it is, as far as I can find, the first game created by Brand Games, a company that is still around today. Unsurprisingly, their current webpage makes no mention of Mr. Pibb or even having worked with Coca-Cola, so I’m very happy to highlight their past abomination. Among their PC titles, they also created advergames for Taco Bell and Gap Kids, both of which are a bit more hilarious, but I decided to go chronologically here.

[caption id="attachment_397813" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

The mascot in my brain

Mr. Pibb was built on the ACKNEX Engine, which is now better known as 3D Gamebuilder. It’s awful. It feels like it kind of belongs between Doom and Duke Nukem 3D’s build engine. There are moments of clever mathplay in the engine, like a single bridge across a room or sections where you go underwater. However, I imagine this is built into the engine since the game design is otherwise, uh, rough. I don't have much faith in the technical side of the development team, is what I'm saying.

Apparently, your school was taken over by a mad scientist and everyone was turned into zombies. Everyone except you and Mr. Pibb, who I guess lives in your head. You cure people from their zombification by burping at them. I guess that carbonated beverages make you burp, so that’s your weapon. That sort of sounds like something someone would bring up as a joke in a brainstorming meeting. It truly stretches the meaning of the phrase “There are no bad ideas.”

Beyond the gassy main character, the only other real link to the soft drink that I know of is its presence in the game as a health pick-up. Of course you gain health by grabbing a tall glass of Mr. Pibb. And each time you do, the eponymous character will scream at you the typical ‘90s-sounding slogan of “Put it in your head!” It’s really, um, unique.

[caption id="attachment_397814" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Yep, that's a school

If there’s one thing that Mr. Pibb does well, it’s in its environment. The school looks like a school, which sounds really bare minimum, but environments that actually look similar to the real world weren’t really guaranteed in 1998.

However, the level design is hardly suitable for some of Mr. Pibb’s eccentricities. Enemies, for example, can’t just be passed through. You’ll always collide with them, which isn’t necessarily unusual. However, once you cure them of their zombieism, they still just stand there, unwilling to give ground. There are a lot of choke points like doorways, and there were a number of occasions where I was alternating between jumping and ducking to try and get past someone.

You can burp at them, but that just makes them sass at you and causes you to take damage. It’s not ideal.

On the plus side, however, the whole game is just one big(ish) level. It took me 45 minutes to complete the whole game, and that includes time spent getting stuck behind immovable students and dying in the worst platforming section imaginable at the end of the game. Your main objective is to gather keys to get to new areas in the school. It’s not very unique.

[caption id="attachment_397815" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Eeeew, it's sticky!

Even at 45 minutes, I can’t believe I went to the effort of completing Mr. Pibb. The last section of the game is somewhat obtuse and entirely created to be as frustrating as possible. You have to traverse caustic slime using moving platforms, and every time you step onto one of them, Mr. Pibb exclaims, “Eeeew, it’s sticky!” This is regardless of whether or not you actually touch the slime.

If you do slip off a platform - and that’s extremely easy to do - there’s a good chance that you won’t recover and will just die. I made slow progress through the final stretch of the game. I heard “Eeeew, it’s sticky!” so many times that my husband screamed out from the bathroom how much he hated that "kid."

It doesn’t help that the same awful song loops for the entirety of the game. The only time this changes is during the final boss battle. However, it just plays a tune over top of the existing music, and I swear that it is one of the worst compositions I’ve ever heard in a video game.

Picture this: You’re in a store that sells musical instruments. Someone has left their child unattended. This child is walking around the keyboard section, mashing keys. That’s what the celebratory ending song sounds like. It’s like the composer had left on vacation, and they really needed someone to fill in before the deadline. So, one of the programmers, with no musical knowledge, tried their best. It’s incredible.

[caption id="attachment_397817" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Advertrauma

The only thing that kept me playing Mr. Pibb was my constant amusement at how badly designed it was. Not that it surprises me that a game based on a drink that is 90% high-fructose corn syrup is not very good. It’s most shocking when an advergame turns out to be decent, like in the case of Cool Spot. It’s hard to tap into someone’s passion when you tell them their objective is to sell sugar-water.

At the same time, there was a certain value to advergames in the ‘90s. You may think that it’s an incredibly bad idea to chain your product to a horrible experience, but as a child in the ‘90s, we’d basically play whatever we could get our hands on. These days, you can really stretch your dollar and get thousands of games for less than $5, or even for free, but in the formative days of the internet, it wasn’t so simple.

If you gave a ‘90s kid a free game, it’s almost certain that they would play it. Once they've played it, you’ve managed to put Mr. Pibb in their head. And that's the sort of trauma that can only be dislodged with expensive therapy that children can't afford.

For previous Weekly Kusoge, check this link!

The post Mr. Pibb: The 3D Interactive Game probably isn’t something you want to put in your head appeared first on Destructoid.

I remember when Mortal Kombat launched in 1992, or rather, I remember when it was ported to consoles in 1993. I was six at the time, but it was impossible to avoid the media fervor around its ultra-violence. My parents didn’t bat an eye when I rented it. My mother’s reaction to seeing me play it was to just ask if it was that game everyone was talking about. Then she continued with her day.

That would normally be an extremely weak way to start talking about Mortal Kombat 1. The original Mortal Kombat (which we can no longer refer to as Mortal Kombat 1) was 11 Mortal Kombats ago.

Yet Mortal Kombat 1 seems somewhat keen to tap into nostalgia for the ‘90s, and there’s nothing I have more abundance of than ‘90s nostalgia. It seems aimed at lapsed fans and dilettantes like myself. Through the Kameo Fighters, we get to see some of the Kombatants as they appeared in the original trilogy. However, this grab for nostalgia proved rather confusing to my thumbs, which tried to throw combos from muscle memory, only to have them not work in the new system.

[caption id="attachment_397789" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Those were $500 sunglasses

The beta weekend provided a decent way to get my feet wet with Mortal Kombat 1. It was enough to show my I’ve got a long way to go before I can compete at even the basest level. There’s a single-player tower mode, as well as a simple online versus. No practice mode, however. That really threw me.

It messed me up mostly because Mortal Kombat 1 doesn’t use a genre-typical combo system. In something like Street Fighter II, it’s mostly just a matter of finding out which moves flow best into each other. In Mortal Kombat 1, you need to dial-a-combo. You can view each combo in the movelist, which is helpful, but it means that if you fail a combo input, your character will throw a punch, then pause and wait for the studio audience to stop applauding before they’re primed to throw another.

This might be how it worked in the last couple of Mortal Kombat titles, but I only briefly played Mortal Kombat 11, so my memory is pretty hazy. It just felt extremely gluey to me, at first. If my mind ever wandered from keying in the inputs, I’d quickly be reminded of that by a sudden pummeling. It’s, uh, going to take some getting used to, I guess. Both online and offline, it started feeling like a sort of tug-of-war. One person would have the upper hand and would cycle through various moves and combos until they messed up an input or a combo breaker or a perfect block interrupted them.

[caption id="attachment_397786" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Pajama day

The Kameo Fighters are kind of dopey in terms of implementation. In theory, they represent an entirely new moveset, with you being able to change the attack by using direction input or charging. I guess this is something else I need practice on because, more often than not, my Kameo Character would rush in and either miss their attack or get interrupted by my fighter getting poked. They’d then stand awkwardly for a moment. They would look slightly embarrassed like they missed their cue. Then they’d just turn and run back offscreen.

Mostly, they served to add a little personality to grabs and Fatal Blows. And then they also pose with your fighter at the end, which is also a little strange when it comes to the original trilogy characters. Your fighter is in their overdesigned, color-coordinated outfit, while the Kameo wears their best pajamas and hockey gear. Not that I really mind since I’m kind of happy to see a bit of self-aware ridiculousness alongside all the gore.

[caption id="attachment_397787" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Big flex

The beta provides a handful of playable fighters and another small set of Kameos. I started off with my familiar main of Sub-Zero, but after a playthrough where I discovered he lacks a classic uppercut, I wound up trying out Li Mei. Likewise, I started off playing with the Kameo of Frost, but changed to Jax because I like his cigar-chomping style.

The single-player towers were no problem for me, even on their harder difficulty. However, my win/loss ratio online was dismal. I got a few successes under my belt, but it often felt like I was the only person on the internet who was unable to internalize the dial-a-combo system. I often fell back on the special moves and grabs, which obviously didn’t work out all that well. That’s not necessarily a condemnation of Mortal Kombat 1, at all. But I do have a long way to go to compete.

A few people I’ve spoken with about the game have said they mostly play Mortal Kombat games for the story. Unfortunately, it’s not really shown off in the beta. A few fighters, some Kameos, and a couple of levels. Not really surprising, but worth mentioning.

[caption id="attachment_397792" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Konsider this

Online worked fine, though. I didn’t get much opportunity to scrutinize it too hard, but I didn’t really get any visible lag, and the matchmaking worked quickly.

As it stands, however, I’m neither more nor less excited for Mortal Kombat 1. The biggest blow to my enthusiasm was finding out that Sheeva probably isn’t going to be in the launch roster. Otherwise, I didn’t really expect it to re-invent the fighting genre or push Mortal Kombat into a new era. Mostly, I expected it to compete with current forerunners, like Guilty Gear Strive, Street Fighter 6, and the upcoming Tekken 8. Sure, I can see it doing that.

If there’s one thing I wish, it would be that it would find a more unique aesthetic. Its gore-covered Hollywood blockbuster look is fine, but since we’re already bringing back the ‘90s look of some fighters, that could have been pushed hard. Why is there a flatscreen on the wall of the tea house? That should be a CRT. And maybe put an original Mortal Kombat arcade machine in the background of Johnny Cage’s penthouse. Liu Kang remade the entire universe. He should have transported it back to the most magical time of all. I’m an easy target.

The post Mortal Kombat 1 doesn’t look like it’s going to break any kombos appeared first on Destructoid.

Nintendo has announced that the longtime voice actor of many iconic Mario characters is stepping back from the role. In a Tweet today, they made the announcement that Charles Martinet is instead moving into the role of “Mario Ambassador.”

Charles Martinet has been in the role of Mario since 1994’s CD-ROM version of Mario Teaches Typing. Beyond the red-shirted plumber, he also went on to voice just about every other male character in the Mushroom Kingdom, including Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi. However, the recent Super Mario Bros. Movie cast Chris Pratt in the role, and trailers for Super Mario Wonder had many people questioning if Martinet had been replaced. That’s still kind of up in the air.

https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/status/1693624002982314108?s=20

The post made by Nintendo doesn’t address the reasons for Martinet stepping back. However, it says that he will continue to travel to promote the character. They plan to follow up with a video featuring Charles Martinet and Shigeru Miyamoto, which will hopefully provide more information.

It’s a bit of a curious thing. Mario hasn’t been the most vocal character, so it shouldn't be that jarring to have another actor in the role. However, Martinet has been almost inseparable from the character for a long while now and had previously stated in 2021, “I want to voice Mario until I drop dead.” Really, I’m just hoping that agreeable circumstances led to him leaving the role.

I also hope Nintendo isn’t planning on taking Mario games into a more dialogue-reliant direction, but that’s a personal preference.

Nintendo did not state if Martinet will still be playing his roles in upcoming games, such as the Super Mario RPG remake or Super Mario Bros. Wonder. More information is forthcoming.

The post Charles Martinet is stepping down as voice of Mario appeared first on Destructoid.

Everyone loves the Dreamcast. Okay, when the console needed people to buy it, it seemed like nobody loved the Dreamcast, but everyone loves the Dreamcast now. It was Sega at their best. The Genesis had some identity issues, and the Saturn compounded on them, but the Dreamcast presented a confident and focused Sega as they plunged toward the spot on the ground where they were about to leave a crater.

Like many people, I skipped out on the Dreamcast during its initial run, but I’ve been making up for it ever since. However, I never got around to Space Channel 5, one of the more unique experiments that came out for the system in 1999.

So, why now? I’ve been watching GameCenter CX again, and there’s an episode where Arino makes an attempt at it, and he’s just so bad. Completely awful. I wanted to see if I’d be similarly as bad, and of course, I’m not.

[caption id="attachment_397527" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Whaaaao!

1999 was still very early in the evolution of the rhythm genre, and Space Channel 5 shows its age. You play as a reporter for the titular future TV station, Ulala. She travels from one crisis to another perpetrated by the Morolians, an alien race of adorable Gumby people. They’ve been going around forcing people to dance, so it’s up to Ulala to go and save the day.

Which is a strange thing for a reporter to do. The whole news program thing doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense, but it ties into the twist at the end, so whatever.

Gameplay involves being in various situations where dance moves play out in front of Ulala, and she must repeat them. It’s a lot like the old Simon games where you have to repeat a sequence of colored lights. It’s also a bit like Parappa the Rapper, but without the visual cues, and that kind of drives me crazy.

[caption id="attachment_397528" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Space Cats

You repeat dance moves by pressing a direction on the stick or either the A or B button. You use the A button to zap aliens and the B button to save people. The scenes change between shootouts, dance-offs, and hostage situations, which is an absolutely bizarre mix. The dance-offs give you a healthbar that gets whittled down whenever you make an error in a section, but for everywhere else, you just need to keep your ratings up. You need to push ratings up past a certain threshold by the end of each level or you fail and have to repeat it.

It can be a bit harsh. You only need to make one mistake during a section of dance-off for you to lose a heart. Likewise, you might not know until the final tally if your rating will meet the threshold to pass a mission. Whenever you fail at one of these criteria, you’re pushed back to the start of the level. They aren’t very long, but I could only stand to hear Ulala say “Fab-u-lous” so many times before I needed to take a break.

Likewise, there are only four levels. While you’re unlikely to beat all of them on your first try, getting through Space Channel 5 doesn’t really take long. Unless you're a Japanese comedian with no rhythm. After that, there isn’t a whole lot of replay value. You get a harder mode, but I found this absolutely maddening.

[caption id="attachment_397530" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Blood on the dance floor

Don’t get me wrong, I found Space Channel 5 to be a pretty enjoyable game. It’s interesting in its absurd flamboyancy. It’s like a late ‘90s Brittany Spears music video on some mind-opening hallucinogens.

The strangest part is when you rescue “Space Michael,” which is a cameo appearance by Michael Jackson. By the late ‘90s, you were either holding onto the notion that Michael Jackson was still cool, or you found him deeply creepy. It’s really unclear which side Space Channel 5 is on because, for one thing, it’s a celebrity cameo, but I don’t know how anyone could see his appearance as cool. To put it charitably, a skin-tight chrome bodysuit doesn’t suit him.

On the other hand, I really had trouble with the lack of visual cues present on screen for a lot of the segments. There are some places where you can see how many button presses you need for each direction. But a lot of the time, it falls on you to memorize. I can do that. Mostly. However, I can’t predict when the game is going to throw it back to me. Sometimes, it will be going through a steady pace of a few prompts before sending it back to you. Then it'll suddenly switch to throwing out one or two prompts before switching rapidly, and it’s impossible to prepare for.

From Parappa the Rapper to Rock Band, most rhythm games have a visual way of telling you when you need to press buttons. That mechanic hadn’t been proven necessary by 1999, and it hurts the fun of Space Channel 5.

[caption id="attachment_397531" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

The show's been cancelled

It also has a weirdly immemorable soundtrack for a rhythm game. It’s not bad, but it really gets lost behind the “Left, shoot, right, shoot, up, shoot, shoot.” I’m not saying it’s a huge issue, it just puzzles me that a rhythm game wouldn’t have more focus on providing a killer soundtrack.

It might sound like I didn’t enjoy Space Channel 5, and that’s not true. I have reservations, but I think it’s an interesting landmark in the gaming landscape. I mostly respect it because it’s such an extravagant presentation of something bizarre. Parappa the Rapper feels like an easygoing experiment, whereas Space Channel 5 busts through the door and starts pelvic thrusting while chanting its own name.

So few games have been so confident of their weirdness and so secure in their flamboyancy. Space Channel 5 is the unemployed couch surfer you defend by saying they have a “great personality.” I’m honestly curious about the VR-only Space Channel 5 VR: Kinda Funky News Flash simply because I honestly don’t believe that the sheer naked style of the first two Space Channel 5 games can convincingly be replicated today.

For other retro titles you may have missed, click right here!

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Nintendo is hardly the worst company when it comes to localizing their games, but considering how many great titles they have, any single game that an audience doesn’t get is a real blow.

Leaving a game unlocalized wasn’t very common in the early days when there was less text in games. Mostly we missed out on games like Famicom Detective Club and Fire Emblem, both titles that eventually received translations and re-releases. Mainly, the number of unlocalized titles bloated out in the early 3D era, then retracted again once we hit HD and the world became better connected through the internet.

However, there are still a number of titles that Nintendo has yet to localize, and I would like to bring them to your attention. Maybe we just need to make a bit of noise, and we’ll finally get to see them in English.

[caption id="attachment_397404" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally (1988, Famicom Disk System)

Both the Famicom Grand Prix games remained in Japan and never got the cartridge treatment. Frankly, I’d love to see both of them get a tongue-swap, but of the two, the biggest standout is Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally.

It’s a bit like Outrun but more off-road. You drive one of three cars piloted by Mario and Luigi across branching tracks. It’s not a terribly big game, but it’s one of my favorite retro raster racers. The effort to translate this one would be rather minimal. There isn’t much Japanese text outside the menus. It wouldn’t be a bad choice to just release as-is on the Nintendo Switch Online NES channel.

[caption id="attachment_397406" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Famicom Wars (1988, Famicom)

The precursor to Advance Wars, Famicom Wars has been superseded by newer entries in a lot of different ways. However, I still love it as a curiosity. With fewer complexities and a fun campaign, I still think the original Famicom Wars is worthwhile.

Heck, we briefly got a re-release of the original Fire Emblem, and that’s a game that has been remade on DS. Famicom Wars would be easier to translate, as there isn’t really any dialog. On the other hand, I think Nintendo is terrified of cannibalizing sales. With Advance Wars Reboot Camp 1+2, freshly released, they might be afraid that people would start with the original and never move onto their shinier, more expensive modern remake. A ridiculous hypothetical, but you won’t stop me from speculating about the sort of evils that cigar-chomping corporate executives get up to.

[caption id="attachment_397407" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Joy Mecha Fight (1993, Famicom)

Joy Mecha Fight is an odd one. It came out late in the Famicom’s lifespan and seems to be an attempt to cash in on the arcade fighter boom. However, Nintendo had already secured Street Fighter II for the Super Famicom, so it almost seems irrelevant.

Nonetheless, Joy Mecha Fight is a pretty solid arcade fighter. It’s one of the few to ape the Street Fighter II formula on the 8-bit console outside of bootlegs. It also has an interesting single-player mode that has you unlock new robots as you go. There is a bunch of dialogue, but not a ridiculous amount. I imagine the only reason Nintendo didn’t localize it back in ‘93 is because the NES was already on the way out.

[caption id="attachment_397438" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via MobyGames[/caption]

Custom Robo (1999, N64)

The Custom Robo series felt like it was on the cusp of being something big. While Nintendo eventually got around to bringing the series westward with Custom Robo on the GameCube, the N64 originals never found their way over here.

Custom Robo is a pretty fitting name. You customize a robot, then enter them in arena battles. You collect parts, rise the ranks, and continually improve your killing machine. There was another Japan-exclusive sequel, Custom Robo V2, which added tag-team battles.

Both of the Custom Robo titles are available on Nintendo’s Switch Online N64 channel, but once again, only in Japan. We’re way past due for an official English release.

[caption id="attachment_397431" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via MobyGames[/caption]

Densetsu no Stafy (2002, Game Boy Advance)

We eventually got a single game from the Densetsu no Stafy series in 2008: The Legendary Starfy. However, there were four extremely well-received titles that came before it that have never been released outside of Japan. Developed by Tose, the Densetsu no Stafy series is a cutesy platformer similar to the Kirby games.

Actually, I don’t have a better way to describe Densetsu no Stafy aside from saying it’s a cute platformer. But the series is somewhat renowned – even in North America – as extremely good platformers. It’s kind of surprising that we only got the very tail end of the series and nothing else. But maybe it’s time for a Densetsu no Stafy collection. I mean, I don’t own any of the Stafy games. I’m just saying that I’m not opposed to owning all the Stafy games, Nintendo.

[caption id="attachment_397429" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via MobyGames[/caption]

Giftpia (2003, Gamecube)

I don’t think anyone has suffered more from Nintendo’s reluctance to localize some of their pre-HD titles than Skip, one of the offshoots from the legendary Love-de-Lic. Giftpia was the first game they put out after becoming established. It’s also the title that most resembles the classic Love-de-Lic formula.

You play as a kid who misses their own ceremony to advance into adulthood. They’re subsequently thrown in jail for their irresponsibility and has to make amends by making the inhabitants of their island home happy. It’s the same idea as games like Moon: Remix RPG and Chulip. It’s an important addition for fans of that very specific flavor, which makes it frustrating that we never got it over here.

[caption id="attachment_397435" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via MobyGames[/caption]

Mother 3 (2006, GBA)

I don’t feel like I even need to explain this one. Mother 2 was localized in North America as Earthbound on the SNES. While it didn’t make much of a splash when it was first released in 1994, it found an extremely devoted cult following that gradually spread its influence to the point where it’s still closely emulated today.

Fans have fought tooth and nail to get Mother 3 localized going as far back as its initial release in Japan back in 2006. A high-profile fan translation helped soothe the pain, but we’re still waiting for Nintendo to finally bring it to us in an official capacity. I’m not certain there has ever been a game with more demand for a localization than there is for Mother 3. Yet here we are. Coming on 20 years later with only a fan translation.

[caption id="attachment_397436" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via MobyGames[/caption]

Captain Rainbow (2008, Wii)

Here’s another Skip game built on the classic Love-de-Lic philosophy of creating games about making people happy. You play as a super-hero who has lost his powers. You wander an island, helping people, with the goal being to become popular again.

Captain Rainbow was extremely interesting in that it’s a real Nintendo fan’s game. Of the characters you interact with are such faces as Little Mac from Punch-Out!! and Birdo from Super Mario Bros. 2. The sort of characters who kind of sit to the side of more popular ones like Mario and Link. But, I guess there are no Nintendo fans in the West.

[caption id="attachment_397413" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Okaeri Chibi-Robo! Happy Richie Ōsōji! (2009, DS)

This one is a real sore spot for me. The original Chibi-Robo on Gamecube is one of my absolute favorite titles on the console. However, Skip never really returned to the original formula, except for once. That’s this game, Okaeri Chibi-Robo.

While most Chibi-Robo sequels still have an emphasis on making people happy, Okaeri Chibi-Robo was the only other title in the series to cast you as a house-cleaning robot. You’re employed by Jenny, the daughter in the first game, and you’re let loose in her house to not only keep it clean, but to also upgrade it to give the family the life they deserve. Along the way, you once again assist the toys and ultimately help bring an end to the household’s pain.

The most recent game in the series is 2015’s Chibi-Robo Ziplash on the 3DS. I bought it for the Chibi-Robo Amiibo that came packed with it, because I really didn’t have much interest in the side-scrolling game that came with it. What burns me is that producer Kensuke Tanabe said that Ziplash might be “the last chance” for Chibi-Robo. Excuse me? You staked Chibi-Robo’s future on a game that is merely a sidescroller with the character in it? Nobody asked for that? We want Okaeri Chibi-Robo!

[caption id="attachment_397423" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Nintendo[/caption]

Buddy Mission BOND (2021, Switch)

I mentioned that a game not being localized by Nintendo is a rarity these days. Well, here is one of those rarities. Buddy Mission BOND was released for Switch in 2021. It’s mostly a visual novel with action segments. You select a pair of buddies who go out and investigate, find clues, and interview suspects. Afterward, it’s time to bust into the bad guy’s base. The route you take through the action scenes depends on what you found during the investigation.

It kind of surprises me that Nintendo went to the work of Famicom Detective Club, but seems to have no intention of localizing Buddy Mission BOND. It’s maddening because it sounds exactly like the sort of visual novel that I want to play. Maybe the success of Square Enix’s Paranormasight will convince Nintendo that there’s a market for visual novels in North America.

The post 10 games Nintendo needs to localize appeared first on Destructoid.

Quantum probably isn’t the first game that comes to mind when you think of the golden years of the arcade. The 1982 vector cabinet, designed by Betty Ryan, has maybe a less exciting concept than Asteroids or Centipede. In fact, the first time I played it was part of the Atari 50 collection.

Atari and Sneakybox’s Recharged line of titles aren’t leaving anything by the side of the road, however, as Quantum: Recharged is the newest release. Surprisingly, it’s low-key one of my favorites. I’ve never been a massive fan of score-chasing arcade titles, and that hasn’t changed with the Recharged games. I prefer games with a bit of progression to them, and there’s more of that in titles like Gravitar: Recharged. However, the simple and fast design of Quantum really sucked me in.

[caption id="attachment_397197" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Quantum: Recharged (PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5 [Reviewed], Switch)
Developer: SneakyBox
Publisher: Atari
Released: August 17, 2023
MSRP: $9.99

I need to stress that Quantum: Recharged is a rather small game. There’s no ending screen, there isn’t a tonne of modes, and your only real long-term goal is to climb the leaderboards. It’s at its best in short bursts. Even better, if you already own some of the Recharged games, it can be fun to sort of visit each of them in a row, like you might at an actual arcade. Just don’t expect it to sponge up your entire afternoon unless it really, really clicks hard for you.

Quantum Recharged is a rather simple game. You control a small… thing. Your goal is to create “dead zones” on the playing field to eliminate other… things. You do this by drawing an enclosed loop. Also, don’t touch anything that didn’t come out of you, because you’ll die.

The original Quantum required you to enclose an enemy in your loop, but for Recharged, dead zones stay on screen for a short while, and anything that crosses into one is eliminated. This means that you don’t have to enclose an enemy. You can simply anticipate your foe’s movements and drop a trap.

Your life bar can be filled to withstand up to three hits. There are a variety of enemies that move and attack in different ways. The goal of the game is to survive while building up your score. And that’s all there really is to it.

https://youtu.be/Tm3zhWvCOWk

Retro-pop

There’s a mission mode, but it seems that Sneakybox couldn’t really think of much else in terms of objectives beyond “defeat all the enemies.” However, it’s the closest thing to the progression we really get (beyond achievements), and there’s a separate leaderboard for your accumulated mission score. Even if it isn’t really much of a new way to play Quantum: Recharged, it’s not without its value.

However, there was something about the core gameplay that I really enjoyed. As I said, I don’t typically get too into score-rush games, but the Recharged titles are a decent take on the formula. Between the rippling neon visuals and the synthetic soundtrack (composed by Megan McDuffee of River City Girls fame), there was a lot keeping me glued. I kept learning new strategies and techniques in each run that made me want to try again immediately.

[caption id="attachment_397198" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Climbing the leaderboards

The PR person for Atari figured it would take me 2 hours to get deep enough into Quantum: Recharged to form a review. However, I wound up playing quite a while after it. I ended up chasing the high score on the sparsely populated pre-release leaderboards. Right now, I’m kind of itching to check if anyone has topped my record in the hours since the release day.

Quantum: Recharged didn’t set my world on fire, nor do I think it was really expected to. It’s a revival of an old formula intended to sit alongside the rest of the Recharged series. If you’ve already been following the series, you probably already know you’ll enjoy it. Otherwise, you can skip over it and not really miss much, but it’s definitely worth trying out. You might find yourself getting sucked in, at least for a little while.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Quantum: Recharged appeared first on Destructoid.

GameMill Entertainment has lifted the lid off of Flu Games The Walking Dead: Destinies. And, uh, they probably should have waited until it cooked for a bit longer before showing it off.

Basing itself off the popular AMC adaptation of The Walking Dead comic book series, The Walking Dead: Destinies promises to be a narrative-focused game that lets you rewrite the events of seasons 1-4 with your actions. I guess a lot of stuff happened in those seasons. I don’t know, I didn’t watch the show. It sounds like if your favorite character died and you want them to stay alive, you might have the option to do so here.

https://youtu.be/ARpGTkOlufQ

I’m not saying the game looks terrible, but this trailer is absolutely awful. One of the first scenes has a pair of gun-toting dudes approach some sort of compound. They look out over the field, and there’s a bunch of watch towers that don’t have any textures. What’s funny is that the same watch tower model is shown later on in the trailer, but on that occasion, it has textures. There’s also compression all over the video that is so heavy that I had to double-check to make sure I didn’t have it set to 480p.

The game itself looks pretty rough. The graphics seem a couple of generations behind, which I don’t usually mind, but it’s not like the art style was adapted to make up for it. It just looks kind of gross. It could be good, it’s just this trailer certainly doesn’t make it look that way. They probably should have, uh… framed it better.

The Walking Dead: Destinies is coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. There’s no release date, but they’re already saying it will be $49.99.

The post The Walking Dead: Destinies revealed with shambling, unfinished-looking trailer appeared first on Destructoid.

Do you want to last longer in bed? Well, stop trying, because the new path to prestige is finishing as fast as possible. The bar has been set at 7 minutes, 54 seconds, as speedrunner Mae was able to charm the pants off of Lae'zel in that time. In Baldur’s Gate 3, I mean.

Mae had previously proven that Baldur’s Gate 3 can be completed in around 10 minutes, which is roughly how long I’ve spent in the entire game (that’s not a condemnation, I’ve just been busy with other things). But really, getting is the real goal of CRPGs like Baldur’s Gate 3. Saving the world is just something you do to meet potential partners.

https://youtu.be/C-Rkgdcj5Ds

The video is generally what you’d expect, but fascinating all the same. Mae uses a lot of the normal techniques used to speedrun the game’s opening. They then focus on freeing Lae'zel and getting on their good side. They then settle down in the romantic light of a campfire, sneak away into the night, and submit to their base urges. Hoo boy. I just love a partner with focus.

Frankly, 7:30 minutes of foreplay can be a bit disappointing. Hopefully, the after-glow and pillow talk aren’t part of the run. I wouldn’t recommend speedrunning intimacy with your partner unless you’re on break at the office or waiting on a bus. However, in this busy world we live in, aren’t we always aiming to be more efficient? We often try to minimize and abbreviate our pleasures so we can get back to what really matters: doomscrolling across the dying remains of social media.

Alright, so now we’ve seen the current Baldur’s Gate world record for copulation. Let’s see you do better. Or worse? I’m not sure anymore.

The post How quickly can you go from zero to romance in Baldur’s Gate 3? 8 minutes, apparently appeared first on Destructoid.

Step into your gi, Digital Eclipse has announced that their interactive documentary, The Making of Karateka, launches on August 29, 2023.

The Making of Karateka is more than just a new port of Jordan Mechner’s legendary 1984 Apple II brawler. It also promises video features, playable prototypes, and design documents providing an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at Mechner’s work. Digital Eclipse has even gone to the work of extrapolating on a prototype to provide it into a full-fledged game called Deathbounce: Rebounded. It’s a dual-stick shooter, which is a pretty great sub-genre.

https://youtu.be/IrS2pipZaH0

Digital Eclipse has last tested the interactive documentary concept with the Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration. It goes beyond the simple remaster format by going in-depth into the making of the games. Karateka is a great starting point, as Mechner made it years before the more renowned Prince of Persia. It’s a formative game known for its cinematics and rotoscoped animation.

I personally haven’t played Karateka. I’m pretty sure I have a copy of it for my Commodore 64 that I haven’t dug into yet, but I’ll probably just wait for this release to try it. After all, it’s out in just a couple of weeks. The Making of Karateka releases August 29, 2023 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. The Switch version is lagging behind those versions, with a planned launch in September.

The post The Making of Karateka fastens its belt for an August 29 release appeared first on Destructoid.

DreadXP has announced that developer LUAL Games’ text adventure [I] Doesn’t Exist will launch on PC September 9, 2023.

Described as “Classic Zork meets existential crisis,” [I] Doesn’t Exist has you awaken in an unfamiliar forest and has you use your noodle to try and escape. However, things promise to not be as they seem, which is great because they already seem weird and unsettling.

Like many text adventures of the early PC days, [I] Doesn’t Exist doesn’t just provide you with walls of descriptive text. It also uses graphics to depict its strange world. Beyond that, there are animations, so you don’t have to rely on your unreliable imagination to paint you a picture.

https://youtu.be/91PdAe-n5VA

[I] Doesn’t Exist also touts the use of "Natural Language Processing" to support its parser and make things more intuitive. While this means the use of AI, the developer is quick to clarify that it isn’t involved in the creation process and is just to make the language parser more natural. In their words:

"Publisher DreadXP and developer LUAL value the authenticity of human-made narratives, and none of the in-game text in [I] doesn’t exist is AI-generated. The Natural Language Processing technology utilized in the game is not affiliated with ChatGPT or other similar AI platforms and utilizes only the player’s input to access pre-written responses by the game’s super-cool writers."

That’s rather comforting because we all know how well it went when Square Enix tried to make a text adventure using AI.

[I] Doesn’t Exist launches on PC on September 9, 2023. A demo is available to try out right now.

The post Modern text adventure [I] Doesn’t Exist releases September 9th appeared first on Destructoid.

Jollypunch Games has announced that the high-flying, toy-robot basketball game, Robodunk, will release on Switch and PC on September 25th, 2023.

I previewed the demo of Robodunk on a distantly long-past Steam Next Fest (it was this past February). It’s an over-the-top basketball game in the vein of NBA Jam. Two robots face a team of two other robots in a match of ups. Beyond just scoring some hoops, your robots are equipped with weapons and can dunk from the edges of space. Also, everything is made of wood for some reason.

https://youtu.be/OP55pjjMSkI

There’s also a roguelite progression where you try to make it as far as you can across various rounds of b-ball. Once you’re inevitably smacked back down to Earth, you can upgrade your robots or hire new ones.

After I wrote my preview for Robodunk, the developer reached out to me to get me to extrapolate on my feedback. At the time, one of my biggest issues was that I felt there was a dearth of personality to the whole affair, despite how over-the-top everything was. He pointed out to me that there are apparently lore entries that get unlocked as you play. What!? In a basketball game? No wonder I didn’t see them. That’s the last place I’d expect to find them.

So, I’m eventually going to play the full version, and I’m definitely going to check out these lore articles that give context to the automated dunks happening in the foreground.

You can check out Robodunk and its lore on September 25th, 2023 on Switch and PC. There’s also a demo available to check out on Steam.

The post NBA Jam-like Robodunk slams home on Switch and PC September 25 appeared first on Destructoid.

Now here’s a game I didn’t know I needed. Space colony management sims aren’t exactly a rare breed, even after you cross them with survival elements. However, I never realized that the one thing they were missing was the SDF-1.

Jumplight Odyssey bases itself on ‘80s sci-fi anime and does it with such incredible pizzazz and with such elegant depth that I’m absolutely stunned by the result. It feels like a missing Macross game, a title that bases itself not around the war going on but on the survivors aboard the SDF-1 as they cling to hope in the direst of circumstances. It is an exciting development by the team behind Armello.

Now, if only I could play it without getting hindered by bugs.

[caption id="attachment_396828" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Hope springs eternal

I want to be clear that Jumplight Odyssey is simply going into Early Access on August 21, 2023. That’s still over a week away, and after that, bug fixes are part of the path to Early Access. I have total faith that League of Geeks will be able to squash the biggest issues in short order, but I certainly had my share of issues with the pre-release.

But let’s put that aside for now.

Jumplight Odyssey has you managing a starship that is fleeing from an aggressive alien army. The crew’s homeworld has been destroyed, and their only hope is to reach “The Forever Star” on the far reaches of space. Currently, the only captain available is Princess Euphora, the last regent of the destroyed planet. Your only choice of ship is the SDF Catalina. It’s pretty clear that League of Geeks plans to add more captains and ships, but for now, we’ve only got one of each. That’s more than enough as a start.

The Catalina starts off in functional but damaged condition. Your first order of business is to get everything functioning again. Don’t get too comfortable, though. The Zutopans are right on your tail. As you work, energy is passively gathered by your jumplight drive. You need to make sure your course is plotted, keep one eye on the enemy position, and keep jumping to further star systems to stay ahead of the enemy.

https://youtu.be/4k7NmBF3Rdc

Bravely ran away, away

You also need to keep your crew alive. This means not only enabling the production of food and water but also keeping their morale up and gathering supplies from the planets you stop at. You choose missions and send off teams to bring back resources and other survivors. Crew members are also assigned to various teams, which you’ll need to balance as they’re required. There are combat, science, engineering, and supplies. Poor supply people. They just lift things.

You also need to defend yourself in Jumplight Odyssey, which I never really got to the point of having to do. Yeah, see, the bugs started cropping up pretty early for me.

My first attempt kept on getting stopped by things just not working right. One time, the last regent crammed herself against one of the shuttles, and everybody else chose to follow her. I think they were trying to unload it. Quitting to the main menu and reloading fixed everyone’s brain.

I then had an instance where the ship was running out of energy, but no one would man the generators. I told the crew to prioritize the delivery of supplies to them, but no one showed up to turn that biomatter into fuel. Eventually, the lights started going out, and someone came around to unload the stored biomatter. Okay, I guess we’re just giving up.

[caption id="attachment_396825" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Knees aren't supposed to bend that way

But the worst was trying to start a new game. On the default Catalina quest, if you don’t start with the tutorial, it doesn’t leave you a lot of time to gain jumplight fuel and warp to the next star system. It also doesn’t give you enough composite to build an item that makes jumplight fuel generate faster.

I realize that I could just start a custom journey and give myself more resources to start. Otherwise, I could play the tutorial again. But there are just too many headaches right now.

This is unfortunate, because I’m really excited about Jumplight Odyssey. The whole reason I took a chance with it was because I really liked Armello, a previous game by League of Geeks. I wasn’t sure if I’d like another attempt at space colony management, but once I got into it, I was in awe of how much there was to dig into and how accessible it was made to be.

However, right now, the bugs kill that accessibility. Once again, I have no doubt that they’ll get fixed. While there are a lot of interface tweaks I want to see happen, none of the bugs seem beyond fixable, so I have faith that they’ll get addressed. However, right now, I’m just going to be watching my Steam client for when updates start dropping. As it stands, I wholeheartedly recommend Jumplight Odyssey. It might just be a good idea to wait a little while before diving in.

The post Jumplight Odyssey is a tantalizing colony sim if you can get past the bugs appeared first on Destructoid.

With its full release on PC happening back in October 2022, Vampire Survivors has quickly become a runaway success. Already, there are imitators popping up trying to duplicate the game’s special sauce. As with many games that have spurred a sudden explosion of similar titles, it tantalizes developers with its simple but malleable gameplay.

I did play the PC version a few months back and was lucky enough to eventually claw my way from its grips. But with the Switch version dropping, I felt it was time to fall back into its embrace for the sake of the review. Hopefully, I can one day escape again.

[caption id="attachment_396801" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Vampire Survivors (PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch [Reviewed])
Developer: Poncle
Publisher: Poncle
Released: October 20, 2022 (PC), August 17, 2023 (Switch)
MSRP: $4.99

Vampire Survivors looks like a bootleg. It has an appearance like someone took one game, then changed all the characters to look like another game to capitalize on people’s affection for the property. In this case, it looks like a bootleg with Castlevania sprites.

The character movements also feel like they’re unchanged from that game developer milestone of putting a sprite on the screen and having it react to input. They just glide across a sparse, repetitive background. It’s minimalistic. Extremely so. Your character attacks automatically based on a growing number of cooldown timers, and you’re just left in charge of navigating the enemy-infested environments.

You don’t even have to press a button unless you want to skip the chest-opening animation. You just slide your character around the background, having them pick up items and slipping through the cracks that open between groups of enemies. It’s dead simple, but weirdly, there’s a learning curve and strategizing to be done.

https://youtu.be/ZZZArNBLrsA

Holy water, Batman

For the main levels, you pick your hero and get dropped into a big open area. Enemies start streaming in from all sides. As you defeat them, they drop XP crystals that you pick up. Each time you gain a level, you get to choose an upgrade between a number of passive and offensive abilities.

As the level progresses, larger groups of more powerful enemies start piling in. The goal is to power yourself up faster than the enemies can grow in strength. Ultimately, you need to last 30 minutes before the Grim Reaper takes things into their own hands.

While this is an incredibly simple formula, a lot of strategy develops in a lot of areas. You need to experiment and discover what sets of weapons work best for you. Since the upgrades are somewhat randomized, you then need to figure out what to prioritize. Then there’s a bit of risk and reward. Do you take a new weapon now or spend the upgrade on boosting the level of an existing one? If you decide to skip on a specific upgrade now, is it going to reappear later on when you need it? Do you need more attack power now, or can you spend some points on boosting stats like luck or attack strength?

And that’s before you incorporate the rather clever combination mechanic, where if you’re carrying two particular items and improve them to their maximum level, you can evolve the weapon into something more powerful.

[caption id="attachment_396802" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Cerebral bore

Then, after each run, you can spend money that you collected on permanent upgrades and new characters. There are also achievements you can aim for that unlock additional weapons and characters for each run. Both during a run and in the gaps between, you’re always improving.

It’s quite a well-executed mess of progression that creates an addicting experience. I don’t use that word lightly, and I don’t necessarily mean it as a positive. Vampire Survivors employs some pretty devious tactics to dig into your brain matter and make it difficult to stop playing. You’re constantly making progress, and you’re perpetually on the cusp of bigger and better things. Every upgrade promises some advantage for your next run, and every run provides a learning experience to employ.

And then luck is a factor, which means that after a bad run, you’re not necessarily going to want to take a break. Sure, maybe things didn’t go your way last time, but this time is statistically more likely to go better. It comes as no surprise to me that developer Luca Gallante has a history of working in the gambling industry, as Vampire Survivors incorporates a lot of the same tactics to keep people glued in place.

That would be awful, but Vampire Survivors doesn’t seem to have that much interest in your money. The price for the base game is relatively low, and the only microtransactions are DLC expansions. Even then, the DLC is very cheap and not essential. If Vampire Survivors had the clear goal of getting you hooked and sucking you dry, I’d be disgusted, but that’s obviously not the intent here. Instead, it just cracks open a can of dopamine and pours it over your brain. The only thing you’ve got to lose here is your time.

[caption id="attachment_396803" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Lots of math

The Switch port is exactly as it says on the tin. I played the PC version previously, and this isn’t really an upgrade. It’s just the same game on a new platform, which is fine. There is some slowdown when the enemies envelop every pixel of screenspace, but I didn’t find it to interfere with the gameplay. Cut the Switch some slack. There’s a lot of math going on in any one moment.

There’s also the new co-op mode for up to four players. It works better than you may think, as XP is pooled between players, and upgrades cycle between them. It’s a surprisingly laid-back multiplayer experience, and I’m actually tempted to break it out next time I’m visiting my parents. Although, I’m afraid everyone would just delegate upgrade choices to me since I’m the experienced one.

As an added challenge, you could just play co-op by yourself. Since you only use the left stick, that’s one for each thumb. Quite a brain tickler.

[caption id="attachment_396804" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Brain tickler

Vampire Survivors is also not content to just accomplish the bare minimum either. A lot of love has gone into crafting it, even if it’s not immediately reflected through the bootleg aesthetics and simple presentation. There are lore entries for each character and enemy, and there are plenty of bonus levels and secrets to tackle. There’s some depth an meat here.

I think it would be very difficult to dislike Vampire Survivors. Typically, I hate when a game just drills into my brain and starts pressing all the feel-good buttons. I usually feel manipulated. However, the fact that it doesn’t ask for money beyond the admission fee, and the fact that there’s something of a clear endpoint to the entire game, makes it feel benign. It wants to entertain you for a while but will eventually let you get back to your life.

Vampire Survivors is well worth checking out, whether you’re playing it on Switch or any other platform. Its simple gameplay hides an irresistible depth. Just keep in mind that once you’re in its clutches, it can be a struggle to get free.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Vampire Survivors appeared first on Destructoid.

Forklift Interactive has launched Stage Games Inc’s production strategy game, Desynced, into Steam Early Access today.

Desynced is part automation game, part base-builder, and part RTS. You find yourself stranded on an unknown world and need to manufacture parts to repair your ship. You take command of a horde of drones that you use to extract resources and take them to various facilities to be processed. It bills itself as an “automation game without belts.” There’s a detailed system for programming your drones to work more autonomously, and you can also bring in other players for multiplayer.

https://youtu.be/SLVZlg7sp9E

Meanwhile, there is also an RTS aspect to Desynced, where you have to protect your factory. That seems like a worthwhile wrinkle to me since being able to diagnose and repair damage to your automated systems sounds pretty fantastic.

While the automated production genre has been seeing a lot of growth in the indie sphere over the last few years, I haven’t taken the dive yet. I’m not entirely sure why. For one thing, it’s a genre that can only really flourish outside of mainstream gaming, which is something I love. I also enjoy management games. I think I’m afraid of getting sucked in and finding myself having difficulty uncoupling when it comes time to play a game for work. That’s a pretty good problem to have.

Desynced is available for PC through Steam Early Access starting today. Stage Games is estimating that it will stay in Early Access for a year before reaching completion.

The post Production strategy game Desynced launches on Early Access today appeared first on Destructoid.

Another Japan-exclusive Famicom game has received new life thanks to fans. 1990’s Dai Kaiju Deburas has received a fan translation patch, turning it into the Anglophonic Giant Monster Flaburas.

Video games have a history of not treating kaiju very well. That’s partially because Japan kept most of the good ones and left us with games like Godzilla for NES or Godzilla for PS4. Dai Kaiju Deburas is a unique take on the genre by focusing more on strategy. You don’t play as the monster itself. Instead, you’re the military, and you’re trying to defend an egg while it’s transported across Japan.

It’s kind of like 1991’s Godzilla 2: War of the Monsters for NES. However, Dai Kaiju Deburas is less of a chore to play.

I actually own this game for Famicom, so I’m happy to see it finally get a translation. There’s a decent amount of text that makes it hard to play if you don’t speak English. My Japanese reading skill got me through a few missions, but I wound up putting it aside and never getting back to it. I had planned on playing it for my old Famicom Friday column, but it kind of fell by the wayside. I’ve even got a picture of it on my Mickey TV. Here you go:

[caption id="attachment_396649" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image by Destructoid[/caption]

Whether you love kaiju, are looking for something new, or just like a decent turn-based strategy game, Dai Kaiju Deburas is worth a look. You can find the patch for it right over here.

The post Dai Kaiju Deburas for Famicom gets fan translated as Giant Monster Flaburas appeared first on Destructoid.

I bought my Sega Saturn back when I was in college. Before that, I didn’t know a single person who had ever owned one. It had only been off the market for a decade, but games for it were tough to come by; still are. It sold nearly 10 million units. I have no hard numbers on this, but anecdotally, it seems to have barely made a ripple in Canada. Even knowing that the platform was mostly just popular in Japan, I would think I’d remember a section for Saturn games in Zellers.

Of the games I was able to sweep up in those early days, I mostly played Virtual On. However, a more absurd game got the second-most slice of my attention, and that was Street Fighter: The Movie. Or, as my roommates called it, Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game. As it turns out, a sub-par port of Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo plus a ridiculous ‘90s movie is the formula for magic. Embarrassing, nauseating magic.

[caption id="attachment_396632" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Educational television

If you didn’t see 1994’s live-action Street Fighter, I’m not sure I can make a recommendation. It’s a typical bad ‘90s adaptation of a video game, and sometimes it’s decent, sometimes it’s so bad it’s good, and then other times it’s just boring. For being based on a fighting game and including Jean-Claude Van Damme as Guile, you’d think it would at least have some great fighting sequences, but it seems almost afraid of putting fists in front of a camera.

On the other hand, Raul Julia as M. Bison is transcendentally fantastic. Sadly the actor’s last role, he brings incredible life to the character. It’s a dude who’s evil just for the sake of being evil, but Julia really makes it seem like a dude who loves evil. Absolutely fantastic. You could have just made a sitcom involving Raul Julia playing M. Bison in his everyday life, and I would have been glued.

Actually, there’s this scene where Chun Li is giving this big expositional monologue, and Julia completely steals the scene just by taking dismissive glances over at her while she talks. Incredible.

But even though it was already based on an extremely popular game, the licensing machine demanded that the movie have its own game. I mean, it probably helped that Street Fighter was one of the hottest licenses of the ‘90s, so putting it on anything was essentially printing Bison dollars. But, it didn’t just get one game; the console and arcade versions were completely different. The Saturn version of Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game, as noted earlier, is based entirely on Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo.

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Quick! Change the channel!

Essentially just being pasted over an already good game is a pretty safe bet, and sure enough, Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game is not bad. It’s maybe only worth playing as a curiosity, but it’s nice that it’s also mostly enjoyable.

The big difference here is that all the characters have been replaced by digitized versions of their actors. Well, not all. Raul Julian and Jean-Claude are substituted with their stuntmen, unfortunately. Also, you can’t really tell if they’re the original actor because the graphics are so grainy. So, like, sure, I can believe that’s Ming-Na Wen as Chun-Li. I’ll take your word for it, Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game.

It also doesn’t have all the characters because someone at Capcom or Acclaim was a coward. T. Hawk and Dhalsim were both in the movie as characters with spoken dialogue, but no one was brave enough to give Dhalsim yoga-stretch powers or make any human stand in T. Hawk’s idle pose.

In their place, we get Sawada, who had maybe three lines in the entire movie. Sawada is kind of like Fei Long, but is dissimilar enough to count as a new, exclusive character. Lucky you, Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game.

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It was Tuesday

The big addition is a story mode where you play as Guile (the all-American hero with a Belgian accent) as he tries to take down Shadaloo. There’s a branching route to the finish line, but you’re essentially just choosing who you’ll be fighting against next.

Let me make it clear, though: you can only play as Guile in this mode. This suited me fine in College when Guile was my main, but I’ve lost my touch when it comes to his flash kicks and sonic booms. It’s a bit of a bummer that they didn’t write out narratives for each character, but I guess anyone who uses Guile as their main will be satisfied.

But seeing human actors trying their best to replicate the poses of the Street Fighter II characters is the real charm here. This isn’t like Mortal Kombat, where the characters' moves are based more on okay poses for humans to take on. This creates a ridiculous effect where two characters will interact in a way that looks like deep kissing or nipple tweaking.

It doesn’t help that the Saturn version of Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game has a lot more slowdown than the arcade. You get a lot of time to really appreciate Zangief sticking his tongue down Deejay’s throat.

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Why do they still call me a warlord?

Every time I pick up Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game, I’m surprised by how much I don’t hate it. I think that’s a testament to Street Fighter 2’s gameplay. It doesn’t matter how ridiculous the characters and backgrounds are or if the music is so unspectacular that it’s barely there. It all gets held up by one of the greatest fighting game systems created.

My roommates and I played a lot of Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game, right up until I found Street Fighter Anniversary Collection for PS2 and migrated our fisticuffs to that. It’s a decent substitute, and the digitized actors lend an entertaining whiff of kusoge (crappy game) to the whole affair. I’m not saying it should be picked up by EVO, but… No, actually, that should happen. I would totally watch that.

For previous Weekly Kusoge, check this link!

The post Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game for Sega Saturn is worth every Bison dollar appeared first on Destructoid.

I’ve never really gotten elbow-deep into the Quake series. Before the 2021 Quake remaster by Nightdive Studios, I was actually most familiar with Quake 4, and I really don’t remember that much about it. In 1996, I was into Duke Nukem 3D. And then after that, it was Goldeneye 007. I at least played Quake 2… The N64 version.

But after the first Quake was remastered and introduced me to the series, I held off on any more series exploration, anticipating the second one would eventually get the same treatment. My patience paid off, and the Quake II remaster has arrived. Once again, it’s a terrific introduction.

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Quake 2 (PC [Reviewed], PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch)
Developer: id Software, NightDive Studios, MachineGames
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Released: August 10, 2023
MSRP: $9.99

After the development of the first game in the Quake series was beset by creative differences, many members of id Software departed, including Sandy Peterson and John Romero. This is considered by many to be the end of classic id Software, as it seemed like the heart had left the brain with an empty bed.

You can sort of feel that in Quake II. There was something of an anarchic directionlessness in Quake that is replaced with something a lot more cohesive. Quake still felt like a first-generation shooter like Doom. Quake 2 is a lot closer to Half-Life.

You can see this clearly in the narrative. Earth has been under attack by the Strogg and hasn’t been faring well. So, the meaty humans launch a counter-attack, taking the fight to the meat substitute Strogg’s homeworld of Stroggos. Quake II and all the expansions are set around this counter-attack as you take control of different space marines attempting to hinder the enemy’s ability to wage war on humanity.

The first Quake really didn’t have much of a narrative, and this is definitely not a continuation. This comes with its pros and cons. The biggest positive is that a more defined narrative gives you purpose that helps drive you through the game. The downside is that the Strogg don’t care much for interior design, and there’s little visual diversity throughout the campaigns.

https://youtu.be/cyxBE163n20

Out of item

Nightdive’s remaster is similar to their approaches to the original Quake and the recent Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition. They have gathered all the expansions into one package, added a newly created campaign, and transported everything to their more modern KEX Engine, bringing with it a number of extra visual and gameplay options. And then, after already doing more than most would expect, they continue on to polish up the graphics and gameplay without tampering with the overall feeling and aesthetic of the title.

It’s extensive. They even upscaled the cinematics. Then, somehow, they ported all of the N64 version of Quake II’s levels. For whatever reason, when Raster Productions handled the N64 port, they wound up remaking almost all of the levels. It’s just as much its own campaign as the other expansions. It seems like it would be quite an effort to re-port the N64 version back to PC, but it was very worth it. It contains visual flourishes that make it, at the very least, aesthetically worth exploring.

The two expansions by Xatrix Entertainment and Rogue Entertainment are necessary inclusions, even if they mostly just feel like added content. Which, to be fair, is essentially what they were when they first released.

Meanwhile, the new campaign, Call of the Machine, by MachineGames is a great way of showing off the many successes of Quake 2 while minimizing its deficiencies. Visual variety is a lot better here, depicting a lot of different and interesting locales based on the Strogg War story but in places not shown in the games. It’s an effective way to demonstrate the outstanding gunplay, fast action, and interesting enemies without eliminating the unique flavor of the base game.

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Someone hang a poster

Which to be fair, as much as I hassle Quake 2 for its repetitive brown corridors, I do enjoy it. The main campaign is maybe a 6-8 hour romp. It kept my attention through to the end, even when similar games with shinier corridors failed to. Games like Dusk have demonstrated the lasting appeal of the clunkier and more straightforward games of yesteryear, and Quake 2 is an essential example of that.

But beyond that, Nightdive's remaster makes things a little more pleasant. One great feature is the compass, which draws a path to your next objective. It’s not that Quake 2 was obtuse beyond reason. Each of the “units” of the game is composed of a handful of small levels, so you’re destined to trip over what you’re looking for. It’s just a matter of how much backtracking you’ll have to endure.

For example, you might finish a secondary objective and see the message “turbine disabled.” Perhaps you won’t realize it’s talking about the fan that you just passed and can now bypass. So, you continue on your merry way, and then when you finally circle back, you say, “Ooooh. It was talking about this turbine.”

So, I mostly used the compass whenever I came back to a familiar-looking room and wanted to make sure I wasn’t just going in circles.

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That's a lot of screens

As usual for Nightdive remasters, their all-encompassing approach to Quake II makes it the definitive way to play the game. Beyond just compiling all the expansions, certain features, such as AI, were buffed up, and cut content was restored. And then there’s also the multiplayer, which in some versions supports 8-player split-screen local. Or you can play online, if you don’t like sharing your screen.

But if, for whatever reason, none of that sounds good to you, the original versions are still available.

For me, it was a great introduction to Quake II. The PC version, I mean. It’s an oppressively brown shooter, but it still carries the speedy, lightweight combat that makes older FPS games still pop today. The changes that Nightdive brought in for the remaster make it even more enjoyable and accessible. It may not have the same experimental charm as Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition, but it more than makes up for it with its tight and gory gunfights.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game purchased by the reviewer.]}

The post Review: Quake II (2023 Remaster) appeared first on Destructoid.

Grab your nunchuk gun and cool glasses, Videlectrix’s hotly anticipated blockbuster Dangeresque: The Roomisode Triungulate has arrived.

Starring the hunky Strong Bad as the eponymous private eye slash crooked cop, Dangeresque: The Roomisode Triungulate is partially a remaster of a 2008 Flash game, half a bunch of new stuff, but all point-and-click. This game comes in hot with new animation, cutscenes, and voice acting. Adventuring has never been quite so… Dangeresque.

Extravagant summary aside, I’ve been a Homestar Runner fan since high school. Which, yes, was a very, very long time ago. The flash webtoon was one of the earliest influences on my writing style, and a lot of that is still with me. Unfortunately, editors don’t often like it when I deliberately mangle sentences or haphazardly mash words together to form clumsy new ones, so I have to pull my punches.

From what I remember of the original Roomisode, it came out as sort of a teaser to the then-upcoming Strong Bad’s Cool Game For Attractive People. With this and the recent de-listing of SBCGFAP from digital storefronts, I’m really hoping I wake up one day to news of a Cool Game remaster. But for now, I have the Dangeresque: The Roomisode Triungulate to keep me warm at night.

Looks like you’re gonna have to jump to Steam or Itch.io to pick up a PC version of Dangeresque: The Roomisode Triungulate.

The post Dangeresque: The Roomisode Triungulate has jumped to release appeared first on Destructoid.

Konami was once such a fun company. Beyond just being successful at innovating and even defining various genres, they had a strong interplay between their games that put even modern Nintendo to shame. Their development teams weren’t just skillful and talented, but they seemed to have real pride in their company. It felt like they were fans. And through that passion, it was hard not to become a fan yourself.

It makes the trajectory of modern Konami feel like that much more of a betrayal. They’re sitting on the games they made us fans of. Or worse. Some are just getting sent to the graveyard that they send all the properties they’re not interested in making new games for: Pachislot parlors.

Parodius Da for Super Famicom is a good example of this. The opening cutscene shows a crowd of penguins watching a screen showing all the milestones of the Gradius series. Amusingly, this spanned 1985 to 1992. Video games moved quickly back then. Eventually, an octopus bursts through the screen, and that’s just a hint of the weirdness to come.

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All the challenge, twice the fun

First released in arcades in 1990, Parodius Da is sometimes thought of as the first game in the sub-series. Its title just translates to a blunt and factual “It’s Parodius!” However, it truly began its life on the MSX in 1988 with just Parodius. Parodius Da was the first one to hit arcades, however, and then in 1992 it was ported to the Super Famicom. Konami’s pretty stingy with the arcade ports these days, so the Super Famicom version is all I have currently. That’s okay since it’s the one with the bathhouse level.

As the name implies, Parodius Da is a parody of the Gradius series. Despite that, it has the same depth of gameplay. You have four selectable ships, but the biggest difference is that it’s just consistently outrageous. The sub-boss of the first stage is a flying pirate ship with a cat’s head, and it just gets stranger from there.

However, if you’re not familiar with Gradius, then I’ll explain. It’s a horizontal shooting game with heavy emphasis on not touching obstacles. You bank power-ups to choose how you upgrade your weapons on the fly, which is the biggest bump in the learning curve. Generally, the key to performing well at a Gradius game is to power up your ship quickly and then don’t die. If you die, you lose all your power-ups, and it can be an ordeal to rebuild your power. Death also can happen from the slightest misstep.

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No laughing matter

I’m not a Gradius expert, but I’m also not new to the series. However, I found Parodius Da to be brutally difficult. The SNES version makes things as accessible as possible. You can choose your stock of lives, but even if you don’t, there are infinite continues and using one just places you at the last checkpoint. It’s entirely possible to just bash yourself against a segment of Parodius Da until you get through with some combination of luck, skill, and memorization.

The first stage is perfectly manageable, and the second isn’t too rough, either. The sub-boss on the second stage gave me a bit of problem until I memorized its movements. However, the third stage was a wall for me. There’s a segment in the middle where you need to blast your way through walls of Skittles, dodge bullets, and also know when to hurry to the next obstacle so you don’t get trapped.

It didn’t get much easier after that. Parodius Da really has a habit of screwing with you. And when it isn’t doing that, the screen is getting filled with projectiles and enemies. Again, the trick to getting through this is to stock up your ship and then just blast everything in your way.

Then don’t die. That’s really key here.

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Don't die

And if you do manage not to die, you get to see some choice weirdness. If there’s one benefit to the silliness of Parodius Da, it’s that it’s extremely difficult to predict. There are sumo wrestlers, for example, who come spinning into view. At first, they seem to just be a larger version of a typical wall-hugging enemy, but then they turn their back to the camera and whip at you with their mawashi. Naked ass staring you directly in the face. It’s absurd.

And then there are the bosses, who are fascinatingly varied. At one point, you just fight a huge woman. The Super Famicom exclusive level caps off with a fight against an octopus that is just trying to wash its hair. Even the sub-bosses have their own style, like the strangely evocative lips that fire entire rows of teeth at you. If there’s one reason to keep playing Parodius Da, it’s to see what else it throws at you.

Unfortunately, this also means that the difficulty curve is a bit all over the place, which I alluded to earlier. The last level, for example, was one of the easiest, following a string of tricky challenges. I’m not sure if the final boss is even a boss at all. I took it down before it could even attack, so maybe it was just the finish line. I’m not really sure, it was a strange end to a strange game.

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The absolute bare minimum

The Parodius series would have a pretty extensive lifespan. Between 1988 and 1996, there were five unique titles and a turn-based offshoot. Then you could also roll in the two Otomedius games, as they too were parody titles of Gradius. And then, of course, the series went to the Pachislot graveyard. Thanks, Konami.

As I said in the beginning, Parodius Da really makes you mourn for the glory days of Konami. Right now, the company has been licensing out their properties to other companies, which is probably as close as we’re ever going to get to their internal culture of the ‘80s and ‘90s. At least most of these games are going to be designed by fans or people with some reverence for the titles. Whether or not they’ll live up to the source material is another question.

But if not, I at least hope that we can get some sort of Parodius collection. Some of the titles were released in Europe, but none of them made it to North America. But for that matter, Konami hasn’t been all that great about porting the Gradius or Twinbee series. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection is a nice step in the right direction, but Konami really needs to do better for the sake of its legendary back catalog.

For other retro titles you may have missed, click right here!

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