callmepauly wrote:

Super cars 2 on the Amiga holds a fond place in my heart in the battle racer genre.

Just watched a vid, looks excellent.  I'm sure my mate had it (based on the fact that he had everything), but I didn't play that as far as I can recall. 

More recent, but this was a great example of the genre:

Sid Meier's Pirates!  Last off-piste selection, will return to the schedule for the next game.  Mixed opinions on how well this holds up in the Assassin's Creed thread, but I'm up for giving it a go. 



Selection also includes other pirate games, such as Pirates of Dark Water (16-bit) and Overboard! on PS1, because why the hell not.  Massive fan of the latter.

Played around an hour of Pirates! Gold on Megadrive.  I didn't particularly like it, but I could tell I would have enjoyed it had I played it in the early 90s.  The sweet spot would've been just after I finished Monkey Island on my mate's Amiga after a marathon weekend session (his copy wouldn't save, we had to return to it on Sunday morning after a last minute sleepover request was accepted). 

The fencing is a bit Urban Champion, and seems quite sloppy, but there's probably a knack to it eventually.  I liked the way you're held captive for multiple years if you lose a battle, was a nice touch.  Digging/exploration/cannon battles/supply management etc, there's clearly a fair bit to it, I can see why it's fondly remembered.  Graphics are reasonable for 1993 (quite varied in terms of presentation), I assume it had a visual overhaul for the MD?  All in all, a good game that isn't suited to quick blast in 2014 without nostalgia.

I ended up switching to Shatterhand on NES and waded through four levels.  Fantastic game, no nostalgia needed.

I started this a while back but didn't get far. It also didn't work on ZSNES, I think, so I had to get an alternative emulator. It seemed quite good once I started to get the hang of it.

I never liked that style of game. I played Knight Lore on the CPC464 and this felt like that. Usual deal with me and explorer / non linear games - I started wandering around in circles - probably missing something - and gave up.

Looks and sounds great though.

Moot_Geeza wrote:

see how it goes then move on to the free choice pinball games slot, I think.

Seems well timed.  I'm happy to lead with Devil Crash but I'd like to try out some others too.  Looking forward to trying Psycho Pinball.  I'll need a couple of weeks to form an opinion on Soltice II first, but feel free to host the pinball challenge when we move on.  Dan's PS4 pinball thread has got me in the mood.

As it happens I have a boxed copy of Equinox AND a SNES on which to play it.  It had great mood back in the day, due in large part to the music.  Quite pretty in places.  I might bust it out.

The coolrom website appears to have dropped its Nintendo downloads.  They seem to crack down on the illegals more than other companies, fair play to them.  Finally started this though, found it elsewhere.  Runs nicely on PSP, which is a change for SNES games.  Looks lovely.

I have Equinox somewhere in the loft.

I remember getting stuck as a youngun collecting orbs(?) in one area, could never get past it. 

I seem to remember the orb would move up beyond reach the nearer you got to it...memory is extremely hazy though.

Was a great game up to that point

Been playing through this with a guide.  Seems like a good one so far.  Comparing it to games I've played, it's got a touch of Cadaver and Light Crusader about it.  As it's so puzzle heavy it's definitely closer to Light Crusader than Landstalker (a personal favourite).  It's a pleasant looking game and it controls nicely.  Been getting frustrated here and there, but I'll take the rough with the smooth. 

Using Youtube as a reference point, it seems that the PSP is struggling with exterior scenes and cut-scenes (the lovely intro was a blank screen for me).  I would've been very taken with this in 1993.

Software Creations. The Pickford Brothers.

Yeah I remember, I could have sworn it was made by rare. What else did Software Creations do? Where they predominantly Amiga developers? I don't recall them tbh.

Anyone fancy a few weeks of retro pinball score challenges?  Jon, if you fancy writing the blurb for Dragon's Fury we could kick off with that.  Only played it briefly myself.  I'm interested in checking out Psycho Pinball too, Codemasters were on a good run at the time.

I have the MD cart. I'm in.

3218500 (Dragon's Fury).  Only had time for one go so far, got most of those points on the third ball.  Aside from the lack of flipper noise, which I haven't been able to stop noticing yet, it feels like an extremely solid 16-bit effort.  Not much of a gauntlet to throw down, but there it is.