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Evan Narcisse: Here’s Why You Should Take a Vacation with Dynamite Jack

Evan Narcisse — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:10:00 +0000

div style="background-color: #B3B3B3; width: 190px; padding: 1px;">#dynamitejack

Dynamite Jack" alt="Click here to read Here’s Why You Should Take a Vacation with Dynamite Jack" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17mtsj9viwsl7jpg/original.jpg"/>

A little while back, I took a look at Dynamite Jack and really enjoyed the explodey stealth action provided by this indie game.
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Retro Gaming Life: The Hardest Decision of my Childhood!

Retro Gaming Life — Mon, 14 May 2012 23:56:00 +0000

It was very tough but I ended up picking Bulbasaur....later that year I got a link and my brother got Pokemon Blue so we traded Pokemon....no more decisions then!!

Finds 409: Pirates Arrr!!! Gun Nac, Samurai PIzza Cats, Snow Brothers, etc!

Finds 409 — Mon, 14 May 2012 22:44:00 +0000

I got these sexy games in the mail today! I've been wanting to get me new pirates lately so this is a nice welcomed addition to my collection. The games are pretty neat. There are two multis that come with two games in one and a single game cart Snow Bros . All the games worked great and I actually started playing one of them called Gun Nac which is a shooter game. I enjoyed it but found it a little too easy... I also played some Samurai Pizza Cats and this weird side scroller with a three eyed bald guy.... totally awesome stuff!!

Snow Bros FC
2 in 1 Samurai Pizza Cats FC
2 in 1 Three Eyes Boy, Gun Nac FC

Finding Miis 004: A Mii at a Peruvian Restaurant!

Finding Miis 004 — Mon, 14 May 2012 22:38:00 +0000

So yesterday for Mother's day me and my brother took our mom to a Peruvian restaurant. I decided to take my 3DS with me and little did I know that I would actually get a tag in the establishment! Another Mii find! WUT!!!

dsheinem: Racketboy Podcast #36 – Retro Sports Games Roundtable

dsheinem — Mon, 14 May 2012 21:23:31 +0000

This episode of the show features our stalwart hosts in a roundtable discussion with two expert corespondents on the subject of retro sports video games. Forum members retrosportsgamer of Retro Sports Gamer World and sevin0seven joins us to run down our favorite 8-bit and 16-bit titles, talk about what makes a great sports video game, what causes them to be ignored by so many retro gamers, and how they’ve changed over the years. John’s Tradition Sports expertise proves useful, Dave’s strange love for Slam City with Scottie Pippen is explained, sevin0seven laments the lack of hadoukens in Mike Tyson’s Punch Out, and retrosportsgamer explains the Tradewest effect.

We’re on Twitter: @racketboypodcst

Download

RSS Feed: http://www.racketboy.com/podcast/feed/

Subscribe to iTunes

Show Outline:

“Theme Music” – Baseball Stars
Playing/Pickups
Roundtable Discussion on Retro Sports Games with expert corespondents retrosportsgamer and sevin0seven
Outro
“Opening Theme Music” – as performed by Scottie Pippen in Slam City

Do you have something to add? Do you have questions about this episode? Do you want to heap scorn or praise? Please let us know below, on Twitter at @rackteboypodcst, in the forums, or email us at podcast at racketboy dot com.

admin: 10 Years Of Game Cube

admin — Mon, 14 May 2012 08:00:22 +0000

To celebrate 10 years of the GameCube being available in Europe, we’ve looked at our 10 favourite games on the system. They system was full of genuinely great games and we’ve really struggled to pick just 10. So without further ado, and in no particular order, here are our favourites.

Resident Evil – 2002

HD Makeovers appear practically every other week these days, but none of them are a patch on this incredible effort from 2002. Capcom rebuilt it’s award-winning PlayStation game from the ground up, and the end results were absolutely sensational. Beautiful rendered backdrops, amazingly detailed graphics and stunning new cutscenes all combined to create the best remake we’ve ever witnessed. Yes it’s even better than Ocarina Of Time on the 3DS.

The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker – 2002

Forget Heavy Rain and any other cutting edge game that professes to act as a bridge between the medium of film and games, because Miyamoto already achieved it with his excellent Zelda game. The Wind Waker initially came under criticism due to its super cute looking cel-shaded graphics gamers were expecting a more realistic approach as seen in various tech demos . Those oversized faces allowed Miyamoto to pack an insane amount of emotion into his characters, and we defy you to not get involved as Link’s adventure reaches its climatic end.

Ikaruga – 2003

Okay so this was also a Dreamcast release, but it still deserves credit. It’s quite simply one of the best shooters around, and it’s from Treasure. What further proof do you need? Okay, so how about we tell you that it has a beautifully complex scoring system you shoot enemies quicker when you’re the same colour as them, but don’t get as many points amazing looking bosses and cleverly designed enemy waves that almost made Treasure’s superb shooter feel like a quasi puzzle game. Find it, buy it love it.

Skies Of Arcadia Legends – 2002

Another Dreamcast game, but another one that is so brilliant it needs to be here. Widely regarded and rightly so as one of the best RPGs of its era, Skies Of Arcadia is a rip-roaring adventure that features pirates, hilarious dialogue and a bunch of genuinely lovable characters. There’s a clever battle system in place, the many fights with the huge Gigas are absolutely breathtaking, while the ending will leave your head spinning. It also features lots of cool additional extras, including a new character, that weren’t in the original game.

Resident Evil 4 – 2005

The first time Darran saw Resident Evil 4 running at a preview showing he actually looked beneath the table the GameCube was on, because he couldn’t believe it was running on the system. Even now, seven years after its release, it has yet to be eclipsed by any other survival horror game. Massively influencing – it’s inspired everything from Dead Space to Gears Of War – it remains the benchmark by which all other survival horror games including Resident Evil 6 will be judged. Stunning to look at and with amazing boss battles, and clever quick-time events, Resident Evil 4 is quite simply one of the best games of the last decade. If you’ve not played it you really don’t deserve to call yourself a gamer.

Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem – 2002

It’s a testament to the willpower of Silicon Knights that Eternal Darkness ever received a release, as it was in development hell for years. Originally due on the N64 you can see the roughness in many cut scenes Eternal Darkness is an innovative survival horror and an intriguing take on the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Starting off as Alexandra Roivas, you must explore your grandfather’s mansion in search of clues to his mysterious death. As you find pages of a book, you take on the roles of other characters ranging from a Roman centurian, to a Canadian firefighter, all with their own strengths and weaknesses. It’s a brilliant concept, further enhanced by the creepy sanity effects that range from flies crawling across your TV screen, to the game pretending to accidentally wipe your save. An epic game that we’d love to see receive a sequel.

Super Monkey Ball 2 – 2001

Monkey Target. That’s the main reason this delightful puzzler has made our list. Rolling monkeys around mazes whilst collecting bananas sounds boring, but the reality is so, so different. Fast-paced it was originally an arcade game and filled with deviously designed tracks, the original was an excellent launch title, but the sequel was even better. It’s also an absolutely riot in multiplayer thanks to the aforementioned Monkey Target, which sees you rolling your monkey down a huge ramp, launching him into the ether and trying to land on tiny targets. Insane, amazing fun.

Metroid Prime – 2002

Retro Studios’ Metroid game had an extremely turbulent backstory, nearly getting canned. Nintendo intervened, a reinvigorated Retro Studios went back to work, and the end result was one of the GameCube’s best titles. The real beauty of Metroid Prime is that while it uses the first-person perspective and features lots of shooting, it’s actually an adventure game. Retro Studios performed the near impossible and managed to translate all the 2D elements of the Metroid games into the third dimension. Not since Zelda has a transition so impressed. Cutting edge visuals, a clever story and the sheer sense of wonder that came from exploring the world of Tallon IV made Metroid Prime a triumphant return for Samus and made Retro Studios’ Nintendo’s best exclusive developer since Rare.

The Legend Of Zelda: The Twilight Princess – 2006

Nintendo’s last GameCube release was one hell of a swan song to go out on. It may have felt like a re-treading of Ocarina Of Time for some, but The Twilight Princess still had plenty of magical moments and finally gave fans the mature looking Zelda game that they had been waiting so long for. Riding on the coat tails of The Lord Of The Rings, it’s an arguably better game than its Wii counterpart, thanks to the fact that the many weapons Link uses were also tailor made for the console. Okay so you didn’t get progressive scan or widescreen support, but we’ll lose those over more comfortable controls any day of the week.

F-Zero GX – 2003

Everything about F-Zero is super slick. It features fantastic presentation, superlative visuals and runs and a silky smooth 60 frames per second. It’s also fast, insanely fast, and packed with ferocious AI, deviously designed tracks and some of the best music to appear in the series. Boosted by a surprisingly deep campaign setting and offering a wonderfully addictive multiplayer mode, F-Zero is the best racer for the GameCube and one of the best racers of its generations. Yes it’s a hard game to master, but the satisfaction you earn when it finally bows to you is immense. Don’t miss it.

Destructoid: Creator of IWBTG is making a Castlevania-esque platformer

Destructoid — Sun, 13 May 2012 23:30:00 +0000

Remember I Wanna Be The Guy? Oh God, the memories haunt me to this day! Thankfully, creator Michael O'Reilly's newest game is not going to be as outrageously emasculating. He officially revealed it last year, but I haven't heard any outlet make mention of it since.

Entitled Brave Earth: Prologue, it's an homage to old-school Castlevania, when the series was all about tight platforming and minute-to-minute challenges as opposed to wandering expansive hallways on an open-world map. According to Michael's earliest remarks, the game was supposed to be a "Metroidvania," but from the screens, it's shaping up to have more in common with the classical style. Not that I mind either way, but it'll be refreshing to go back to basics.

Despite being rendered in "8-bit," the art is very detailed and the sprite animations are very fluid. I'm excited to give this one a spin, and I hope all of you can keep your eyes peeled. Brave Earth: Prologue ought to eventually appear on Steam and other services for $5.

Brave Earth [Kayinworks]

Retro Gaming Life: Affinity Sorrow Updates!!

Retro Gaming Life — Sun, 13 May 2012 10:40:00 +0000

So little by little this wonderful masterpiece is coming together. Here is a new update on the progress of the game! Check it out! You better! AWAAAAAAAAA!!!

Finds 408: Dragon Ball Famicom Chinese CIB!

Finds 408 — Sat, 12 May 2012 04:32:00 +0000

So today I got this sexy pirate in the mail! Oh man it's been a while since I've bought a pirate and this one is totally awesome!! It's an RPG game based on the Dragon Ball series! It's totally awesome!! An incredible addition to my collection. I have to get back to my roots! Piracy 4 life!!

Dragon Ball Chinese Famicom

Emulation News 293: Weekly updates 5-5 through 5-11

Emulation News 293 — Sat, 12 May 2012 04:09:00 +0000

So in a way to still keep updates coming through here I decided to post emulation news once a week. The problem at first was that the news were pretty repetitive and didn't make much sense. From now on, I'll be posting the most important updates of the given dates. I hope this can help some of you out there that are still focusing on the emulation nation!

MD.emu for Android v1.4.26

"- Fixed Wii Classic Controller detection for newer models
- Android: Disabled OES_texture_npot on all Adreno 200 GPUs LG Optimus V, etc. due to faulty OpenGL driver causing blank font rendering"

iNES v3.6.19 for Android

"- Made user-assigned key mappings override default key mappings.
- Xperia Play [X] button now acts as FIRE-A was START before .
- Added persistent fast-forwarding option.
- Added low disk space warning"

NES.emu for Android v1.4.26

"- Fixed Wii Classic Controller detection for newer models
- Android: Disabled OES_texture_npot on all Adreno 200 GPUs LG Optimus V, etc. due to faulty OpenGL driver causing blank font rendering"

Snes9x EX v1.4.26 for Android

"- Fixed Wii Classic Controller detection for newer models
- Android: Disabled OES_texture_npot on all Adreno 200 GPUs LG Optimus V, etc. due to faulty OpenGL driver causing blank font rendering"

Emulator Organizer v4.6

"-Added: get info/history from internet moby game only for now
-Added: configuration files list for each emulator mame , dosbox and almost all emulator with editable config file
-Added: emulator configuration file editor fully pro with ability to edit each field with it uniqe value usefull in dosbox and mame
-Added: Emu panel a panel below roms list, allow to quick edit emu's commandlines and configuration files "

NesDS v1.1b Final

"sound update, fds sound works fine.
AutoFire config can be saved.
game is more stable & sound goes bad?
binary files converted to .c/.h, can be compiled by devkitARM r39"

Finds 407: Duke Nukem 3D, Rayman Brain Games, and Addams Family for the NES!

Finds 407 — Sat, 12 May 2012 04:04:00 +0000

Today was a very interesting day of finds as you can see. I was able to pick up Duke Nukem 3D for .95 cents so I was totally ecstatic for such an awesome find! The others were Addams Family for the NES and Rayman Brain Games for the PS1. Not a lot of pick ups but at least something to be happy about. Let's Rock!

Duke Nukem 3D PC
Rayman Brain Games PS1
Addams Family NES

Retro Gaming News 121: Akira!

Retro Gaming News 121 — Sat, 12 May 2012 03:54:00 +0000

"You can finally play the iconic movie on your NES!

Akira is a point-and-click text adventure following the plot of the movie not the manga , and is sure to give even the greatest fans quite the challenge.

This project was many years in the making and was a combined effort of danke, Pennywise, and Niahak with some early aid from RedComet. The game was translated rather quickly, but, because it was a text adventure, space immediately became an issue. After a line hack and hijacking the native DTE, space was still a major issue. It was decided that the ROM needed to be expanded and the pointer system reworked. After that headache, the text was inserted without issues and with minimal editing for space. You can enjoy the game as it was meant to be.

The game itself is extremely challenging if you haven’t watched the movie. There are also some ’shooting’ mini-games that are enough to make you swear, so saving often is highly recommended.

To make use of the patch, you need to run the ROM through ROM Expander Pro, which is included in the zip file. All instructions can be found in the readme.

Due to the nature of the game and the hundreds of possible choices and responses, no amount of beta-testing could have checked over everything. As far as we know, the game is 100% bug-free, but there may be a typo or two. If you spot anything, feel free to report it in the forum post linked with this article."

Retrobeat Tuesdays 007: TMNT 2 Technodrome Music

Retrobeat Tuesdays 007 — Sat, 12 May 2012 03:51:00 +0000

So a little late but here is the retro tune of the week! None other than the Technodrome theme song for the classic TMNT 2 games for the NES. Gotta love it dude!

Benj Edwards: [ Retro Scan of the Week ] The Magnavox Odyssey 2

Benj Edwards — Fri, 11 May 2012 22:56:52 +0000

The Excitement of a Game. The Mind of a Computer. The Soul of an Edsel. The Odyssey 2, released in 1978, ranks among the most misunderstood video game consoles. It boasted more CPU intelligence than the Atari 2600, but it lacked the licensed arcade titles and third-party developers to make it competitive over [...]

One-Hour Retrospective: Capcom's Black Tiger

One-Hour Retrospective — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:12:04 +0000

You don't have to preface classic games with caveats like, "It starts slow, but after the first 20 hours it really starts to get interesting!" With few exceptions, you can play an older game for a few minutes and get an accurate sense of its worth. With that rule in mind, One-Hour Retrospectives are exactly as they sound: We'll play a classic game like those on Virtual Console for an hour and report back on how it goes. And if we should have given it another 19 hours before it became interesting, well, that's where you come in to keep us honest.

I've been enjoying Dragon's Dogma a lot more than I expected to based on everyone else's grumpy opinions about the game after seeing it last year at E3. But clearly this is what I get for listening to people who want totally different things from games than I do. Lesson learned: I am an island to myself.

Dogma isn't an island, though. I had a small epiphany while playing a demo of a mage tower at Captivate last month, and that in turn set me to thinking about the classic Capcom arcade games that laid down the roots for this new game -- albeit indirectly, I suppose.

Personally, I trace that not-quite-a-family-tree back to Black Tiger, a 1987 arcade game that kind of vaguely reminded me of the original arcade version of Bionic Commando. A bit. It's less cartoony, having shed the whimsical style of Capcom's previous arcade action titles see also Ghosts 'N Goblins . But it still slots neatly into the company's idiosyncratic take on coin-op gaming, with its vague RPG mechanics mainly an economy and shops that primarily sell things way beyond what you could possibly afford .

I was always fascinated by Black Tiger as a kid but never played much of it. I couldn't figure out what that was the case until I gave the game a shot for this blog post and realized it is ridiculously hard. Like, in a not-fun kind of way. Clearly this is a game designed to scrape every possible quarter out of a child's wallet.

The premise of Black Tiger sets it off on the right foot, at least. You're a guy in armor and you have a ridiculous number of armaments from the very beginning. This isn't your typical arcade game where you begin with a puny set of weapons and gradually level up; the hero is kind of awesome from the start. He carries a massive flail which he employs like a whip, but unlike your typical Belmont he also blasts out a spray of knives every time he swings his weapon. Imagine if the spread gun were the default weapon in Contra. Yeah.

To offset the hero's sheer firepower, the individual bits of his armory are fairly weak. He only properly inflicts damage when he strikes enemies with the full array of his attacks. In fact, poison status in the game doesn't debilitate your health; it robs you of your throwing knives, reducing your offensive capabilities to that decidely unimpressive flail.

If you this set up sounds overpowered, slow down there, cowboy. Enemies soak up a ton of damage, hit hard, appear from nowhere via ambush, and basically screw you over at every opportunity. Rocks fall from off-screen to inflict an instant, untelegraphed kill. Monsters sometimes shrug off the stun effect of your weapons, wading in to kill you before you can wear them down. Bosses bounce erratically around the screen, inflicting kills upon contact that you couldn't possibly predict or avoid.

In other words, it's an arcade game; it hates you; it wants your money. So maybe it doesn't hold up too well to the ravages of time; I'm sure the NES version would have been much more enduring, had Capcom not Mega Man Legends 3ed it. I see a number of elements in Black Tiger that the company would refine over the years, and that probably would have worked a lot better in a home version. So this one goes down in the books as a good effort, albeit a failed one. Still, the first couple of minutes, where you're wailing on bad guys and the kid gloves aren't quite off yet, remain ridiculously fun.

admin: The ultimate guide to iPhone Apps is out now

admin — Fri, 11 May 2012 10:42:27 +0000

The iPad App Directory Volume 4 is your complete guide to the best apps available for your Apple tablet. Covering every category on the App Store, there are loads of top apps that will help extend the functionality of your iPad, and plenty that will keep you entertained for hours, whether they are games, books or utilities. With over 600 reviews, you’re bound to find plenty of applications that will catch your eye, and you’ll even discover our top 200 iPad apps of all time.

Apps magazine deputy editor Jonathan Gordon commented: “With the release of the new iPad, Apple’s tablet has never been hotter, but navigating your way around the App Store to find the best apps remains a challenge. Thanks to the expert reviews in this iPad App Directory you can find some fantastic apps and some hidden gems you might otherwise have missed. With more than 25 billion apps now downloaded from the App Store, this guide will make sure that your next contribution to that impressive number is an app you’ll keep for good.”

The iPad App Directory Volume 4 is available now priced £9.99 from www.imaginebookshop.co.uk and all good newsagents.

Stu*Bert: Carmageddon sequel recieves jump-start from Kickstarter

Stu*Bert — Fri, 11 May 2012 09:15:40 +0000

Retro gaming reboots and sequels given a chance of life courtesy of Kickstarter funding seem to be gaining more and more momentum each day, with the latest a sequel to the gory Death Race-style 1997 PC racer Carmageddon.

The sort-of sequel, which is titled Carmageddon: Reincarnation, is being developed by Stainless Games. The creators of the original game, Stainless recently bought back the rights to the IP and is hoping to reboot the franchise if it can raise the funding it needs. The target is set at $400,000, and at the time of writing the total pledged so far was $182,155, with 28 days remaining for them to raise the full amount.

Naturally the more pledged the better the rewards, and in return for backing is the chance to secure some exclusive signed artwork and even have yourself immortalised in the game as a hapless pedestrian to be run over.

We would love to see Carmageddon return to our screens, so wish Stainless the best of luck with its venture.

If you’re interested in pledging, the relevant Kickstarter page is here.

Finds 406: Zelda A Link's Awakening Japanese Release!

Finds 406 — Thu, 10 May 2012 22:04:00 +0000

So today in the mail I got this wonderful game. I loved the artwork so much that I just had to get it CIB! It's totally worth it! Why couldn't the US release have such an awesome cover? Lame Americans! :p

Zelda A link's awakening Gameboy

admin: Kirby Compilation Incoming

admin — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:42:00 +0000

Nintendo is celebrating 20 years of Kirby, by releasing a new compilation later this year.

The compilation will be released exclusively on the Wii, but so far, Nintendo hasn’t revealed what games will actually be included. We’re hoping that it will feature all of Kirby’s Game Boy, NES and SNES platformers, as well as the numerous spin-off games he has appeared in. Nintendo’s Super Mario All-Stars celebration bundle didn’t go down too well with gamers due to the limited nature of the included games, so we’re hoping that Nintendo is going to really get behind this new release and allow fans to truly celebrate this important landmark.

racketboy: Video Interview with Dion Dakis of NeoGeoFreak

racketboy — Thu, 10 May 2012 01:36:17 +0000

I may not be a Neo-Geo expert, but I’ve ran this site long enough to know that there’s a number of SNK fans that aren’t keen on Dion Dakis. The co-founder of NeoGeoFreak pushed the buttons of a lot of American Neo-Geo collectors with his online antics and personality.

Last summer I had a trip out to Las Vegas and I worked it into my schedule to sit down with Dion Dakis for an evening and talk about the last few decades of the gaming industry. Knowing his reputation on neo-geo.com, I wasn’t sure what to expect. On the other hand, he does have good eBay feedback and deals in public trade shows like the Classic Gaming Expo. In his online writing and sometimes while talking on the phone he can come across as a stong personality, but once I met him in person, he seemed much more approachable. I did my best to go in with an open mind and try to present a neutral presentation.

I can understand the perspectives of both Mr. Dakis and those that disagree with him. I understand the business aspect of NeoGeoFreak, but I can also relate to how people don’t like how he handles things. Personally, if I was a game distributor, I would have done things differently. But that’s me — I have a much different personality.

Long story short, I had an enjoyable time talking about games and learning some history. Dion was nice enough to let me record much of our conversation and take lots of pictures. Before our meetup, Dion went through his storage unit to dig up some very cool Neo-Geo collectables and artwork. What follows are the highlights. It took me a while to edit all the footage down and organize it – I apologize for the delay, but I hope you find this interesting regardless of how you feel about Mr. Dakis.

BTW, I realize the sound/video isn’t the best — it was low lighting, I only had the built-in mic on the camera, and I’m terrible at speaking on camera, so I’m surprised it turned out as well as it did Anyway, here we go!

Getting Started with Neo-Geo & Starting NeoGeoFreak

I talk to Dion about how he got started collecting for the Neo-Geo and how it turned into starting the business that became the leading US distributor for Neo-Geo games

Youtube Link

Experiences with SNK Japan

Even thought SNK wasn’t without it’s issues, Dion had some interesting memories of how things were in the corporate end of the Neo-Geo world

Youtube Link

Shady Stuff Going on in the 16-Bit Era

The dark side of our childhood is discussed

Youtube Link

Current Status of the SNK Community

I talk to Dion about what he thinks of the Neo-Geo community now and how things have progressed with homebrew software and hardware, etc

Youtube Link

Neo-Geo Game Authentication

With lower-end copies of Neo-Geo games floating around, Dion discusses the topic and how to authenticate your games

Youtube Link

Unreleased Neo-Geo Games

Curious about some of those lost Neo-Geo games — here’s Dion’s thoughts on the topic

Youtube Link

Photos of Dion’s Neo-Geo Memorabilia

Here’s a handful of pictures from Dion’s collection — for more images and notes to go with them, check out this gallery on the Racketboy Facebook Page

Together Retro Game Club: Wolfenstein 3D

Together Retro Game Club — Thu, 10 May 2012 01:36:16 +0000

Presented by Dsheinem

New To Together Retro? Check out the introduction to the club

For many gamers, Wolfenstein 3D is considered the game that launched the most popular genre of the last twenty years: the first person shooter. And while it can’t technically boast being the first ever FPS, Wolfenstein 3D remains one of the best loved and most influential games ever created in any genre. If you haven’t ever sat down to play it through or if you haven’t done so for some time, this month’s Together Retro timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the game’s release in 1992 is the perfect opportunity to re discover this classic.

Concept

iD software created Wolfenstein 3D as a spiritual sequel of sorts to the Muse Software titles Castle Wolfenstein and Beyond Castle Wolfenstein, both of which were released in the early 1980s as stealth-based shooters set in Nazi Germany during World War II. In those games, as in Wolfenstein 3D, the player was charged with finding and killing Hitler while taking down Nazi henchmen and discovering treasure chests in the process. iD took this basic concept and added their own unique graphical capabilities, design elements, sense of humor, and soon to become signature style. In iD’s game, the player took on the role of William “B.J.” Blazkowicz who, over the course of several episodes each comprised of about ten stages , escaped a Nazi prison and confronted various nefarious Nazis including Der Führer himself .

Controls

The controls in Wolfenstein 3D are, by contemporary FPS standards, very simple. The game’s default controls were to use the keyboard arrow keys to move forward, back, left, and right, to strafe with the Alt key, to fire with Ctrl, to open doors with space, and to run with the left shift. Doom veterans who missed this earlier iD title should feel right at home, but more modern FPS gamers can customize control pads, mice, and keyboard controls to their liking on the PC.

The game has been widely ported see below for more details , and basic controls translate fairly well to console control pads/analog sticks since there aren’t many buttons that need to be mapped. The ability to remap controls in these ports varies widely.

Legacy

Wolfenstein 3D’s success and iD’s subsequent meteoric rise to prominence in the games industry means that there has been no shortage of Wolfenstein games in the twenty years since its initial release. Spear of Destiny, a sequel that uses the same engine, was released only four months after Wolfenstein 3D hit store shelves. Return to Castle Wolfenstein was wildly popular 2001 “reboot” of the series that once again placed the player in Blazkowicz’s shoes, this time using the Quake III engine. Return also prompted a 2003 stand-alone multiplayer release of Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, a game that has arguably had as much influence on contemporary FPS multiplayer as the original did on classic FPS single player campaigns. The newest entry in the series, simply entitled Wolfenstein, was released in 2009.

Wolfenstein 3D is also notable for being one of the earliest games to find widespread success due, in part, to the internet. The shareware version of the game was placed on BBS boards, and, as David Kushner writes in Masters of Doom:

“Wolfenstein evolved into an underground sensation. Before the press picked up on it, the gamers online were abuzz about the game’s immersive blend of high technology and gruesome game play—the synthesis of Carmack’s and Romero’s personal passions. Forums on the various BBSs and on the emerging commercial online services — Prodigy, CompuServe, and America Online — brimmed with discussion about the game. The Internet’s discussion forum, Usenet, was on fire. E-mails poured in to the office.”

Ports

The game was originally released on floppy disc and CD for the PC, but has been officially ported to several consoles and handhelds including the SNES with censorship , the Jaguar, the 3DO with enhanced sprites , and the Game Boy Advance. It is also available on modern digital distribution platforms such as Steam, the PSN, and XBLA. It has been unofficially ported to almost everything imaginable. Most purists would argue that the game should be played on a PC, but any of the official ports are generally excellent.

In addition, iD recently released a touch-screen friendly reimagining of the game knows as Wolfenstein RPG for iOS and Android.

Together Retro Discussion

Instead of posting your thoughts below, please join us this month in the Together Retro section of the forum to discuss the game, its various ports and sequels, any popular culture surrounding the game, secrets and strategies found within, and anything else you’d like to sound off about.

Retro Gaming Life: A very weird Famiclone of mine...

Retro Gaming Life — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:56:00 +0000

Here is a very weird Famiclone I've been using lately. Not only can you use a Master System controller on it but a Genesis one as well!! Somehow this is a fusion of Sega and Nintendo right? I hope you like.

admin: Wolfenstein 3D Celebrated

admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:51:51 +0000

Bethesda is celebrating Wolfenstein 3D’s twentieth birthday by making the seminal classic available to play in browser form. Created by John Carmack and Jon Romero, it was not only the first example of the first-person shooter, but proved just how cutting edge PCs could be. This latest version is an excellent reproduction of the classic PC hit and is still great fun to play.

To continue the celebrations, there is also an excellent Youtube video that not only features John Carmack playing through the game, but also reveals how the cutting edge game was created. If you’re a fan of Id Software, or the first-person genre it makes for fascinating viewing.

Retro Gaming Life: So how are things going?

Retro Gaming Life — Wed, 09 May 2012 09:56:00 +0000

OH man you see this pic? I want a frog like this one!! I always had a thing for frogs...ahhh someday I'll have it!! This fat frog rocks!!!! Just though I would share...

admin: An exciting new way to enjoy Imagine Publishing magazines

admin — Tue, 08 May 2012 10:35:16 +0000

As more magazines convert to the digital format, Imagine Publishing announces a brand new way of enjoying your favourite titles. As one of the first publishers to fully embrace the online market, our new venture Great Digital Mags makes it even easier to buy popular magazines like Retro Gamer and How It Works.

Great Digital Mags is an innovative new digital portal that allows access to each magazine in the Imagine Publishing portfolio. Regardless of whether you enjoy retro gaming, photography or science fiction, you’ll discover plenty of titles to suit your needs.

Great Digital Mags gives you instant access to Zinio and iTunes versions of your favourite magazines, meaning getting your latest issue has never been easier. Head to www.greatdigitalmags.com for more information.