Consolation Prize

In preparation for the forthcoming release of Soul Calibur IV the second game in the successful melee weapon fighting game series by Namco, Soul Calibur, was unleashed onto Xbox Live Arcade last Wednesday, 2nd July.

As mentioned this was the second game in the series following in the footsteps of Soul Edge (PS1) and is probably most fondly remembered by Sega Dreamcast owners with which it became an instantaneous hit during 1999 because of its stunning visual beauty, great character roster, fantastic character animation, and its instant pick-up-and-play fighting techniques.

The story, as with most fighting games, is virtually non-existent but revolves around an evil mystical sword known as “Soul Edge” wielded by its host “Nightmare”. The characters in the game have there own altruistic or selfish reasons for joining the quest to stop Soul Edge and the player jumps into that role, progressing through a series of one-on-one rounds until the final showdown.

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When I was a young whipper snapper, at the grand old age of eleven, my father went on a business trip to the land of the Rising Sun. I remember on his return he brought back lots of gifts for the family. One that was intended for yours truly, and something I still hold dear to this very day was Nintendo’s Mario Bros . One of the Game & Watch series of LCD games featuring a dual screen, clock with alarm, and all contained within a protective clamshell design that eventually became the inspiration for the Nintendo DS.

Although Mario Bros. was born in a time where technological limitations dictated the constraints of game design, where playability was distilled into one great idea, it is still as enjoyable to play today as it was back in 1983. It retains that Nintendo charm and there’s something fascinating about reveling in its unashamed simplicity.

The player controls both Mario on the right, and Luigi on the left, working in a bottling factory using the simple “up / down” switches to move the brothers between the different levels. As empty pallets roll off the machine at the bottom right Mario moves them onto the first conveyor belt where at the other end Luigi should be waiting to receive the pallet and move it up on to the next level where it heads back towards Mario. The brothers must “catch” and move the pallets up five levels of conveyors where eventually at the end of the machine Luigi, exhibiting a smile the “Cheshire Cat” would be proud of, throws the full box onto the back of a waiting truck. When fully loaded the truck zooms off into the sunset, earning the boys a well earned few seconds break until the supervisor tells them to get back to work.

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OK I admit it, I’ve never heard of this “classic” arcade game that was released back in 1980 by Atari. The easiest way to summarise this game is as a 4 player mash up of Pong and Breakout with each player occupying a corner of the screen, defending their fort from bouncing balls and hopefully deflecting them back in the opponents general direction.

As is the tradition with Xbox Live retro titles the graphics have been given an overhaul with the “enhanced” mode but if you’re a bit of a masochist you can play the original mode should you desire. The upgraded mode is definitely an improvement over the original and I really can’t see anyone playing the classic mode for any other reason other than historical interest.

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Battlezone, the vector graphics arcade game of tank warfare from 1980 is the latest classic game to be ported to Xbox Live Arcade by
Stainless Games. As with all previous ports handled by this development studio it comes packaged with both Classic and Evolved game modes as-well as normal and the fantastically named Throttle Monkey difficulty levels.

For those not in the know, Battlezone was a bit of a rarity in its time using 3D vector graphics and presenting the player with a first person perspective of the game world. Nowadays of course the classic game looks quite dated but the developers have done a decent job with the look of the evolved version, retaining the vector based imagery of the original whilst sprucing up the graphics with some well placed visual effects. My only criticism of the evolved graphics however would be that I found it easier to identify which way an enemy tank was facing from a distance using the original graphics rather than the evolved visual update.

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Ikaruga, from those artisans at
Treasure, is a top-down vertically scrolling shoot-em-up. It was originally developed for the arcades and subsequently ported to the Sega Dreamcast (2002) and Nintendo Gamecube (2003), but now there’s no excuse not to play this gem of a shooter as it’s available from Xbox Live Arcade for 800 Microsoft points.

Generally in most “shoot ‘em ups” the aim is to avoid any incoming enemy fire. However, Ikaruga employs a simple but clever mechanic that revolves around switching the polarity of your ship between two colours, “black” and “white”, allowing shots of the same colour to be absorbed.

The polarity of the ship can be changed at will by the player and this not only changes the ships colour but also that of the weapon it fires. Because enemies also come in one of the two polarities switching to the opposite colour ensures that you will deliver more damage, but balancing this effect is the knowledge that you are going to be vulnerable to attack.

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Tron. I remember the movie fondly from my youth, mainly because of the amazing (for the time) special effects and the game related theme. I’ve not watched the movie since as there’s no doubt my rose tinted spectacles would be shattered in an instant.

This little trip back down memory lane brings us onto one of the weeks Xbox Live Arcade releases, a port of the original arcade game Discs of Tron, released back in 1983.

The game is based in an isometric view of the arena, the player character Tron is closest and the opponent Sark is at the far end, both players are perched on disc shaped platforms. The aim is simple, throw discs at Sark whilst avoiding any thrown back in return, and defeat him by either knocking him off the platform or hitting him twice.

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The Metal Slug series of games have been around for quite some time now and spawned a host of games on a number of platforms. I’ve even got a copy of Metal Slug 1st Mission and Metal Slug 2nd Mission for my Neo Geo Pocket Colour, that ill fated hand-held that I thought was particularly good for the time.

This time it’s the Xbox 360’s turn to receive a port of Metal Slug 3. The game is a run and gun side scrolling shooter which sees you taking on hordes of enemies, rescuing prisoners for power-ups and taking on the obligatory boss at the end of the stage.

During a stage you will come across different types of “Metal Slugs” (vehicles), increasing your firepower and overall effectiveness, and are essential for ensuring your survival if your reflexes are as bad as mine. One nice aspect about this game is the branching paths that are available within a stage adding to the games replayability as you explore the different routes available.

The controls are nice and simplistic with the left joystick used for movement and for the direction of fire with “X” used to shoot, “Y” to throw grenades and “A” to jump. Graphically things all move smoothly and the sprites, some of them surprisingly huge, look great.

The full version is available for 800 Microsoft Points and is well worth a look if you’re into arcade shooters.

Ice cream! Ice cream! Those that can remember the phrase will be pleased to know that Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace for 800 MS points.

This is an enhanced port of the 1991 game that I first played on the Commodore Amiga and features both the original sprite based graphics and some new 3D graphics as-well as Xbox Live multi-player, the obligatory 200 gamerscore achievements and leaderboards.

The game of “Speedball” features two opposing teams of nine players split into attack, midfield and defence in a futuristic full contact sport. Each team will aspire to score a goal, worth 10 points, but this can be increased by using the score multipliers on the sides of the arena. Jotted around the arena are also various power-ups that may be picked up to give one team an edge for a limited duration.

Initially the “Brutal Deluxe” team you start with will be fairly weak, but through the use of the gym and money invested each players stats can be improved. Alternatively you could dip into the transfer market and buy better players if you have enough cash.

There are plenty of modes to keep you occupied like, “league”, “knockout”, “cup”, “practice” or “league manager” and improving your players from weaklings to all conquering powerhouses that smash through the opposition is one of the highlights.

Unfortunately the enhanced graphics aren’t that great and I prefer sticking with the original top-down sprites that I fondly remember, even though they don’t look as great today on larger HD displays. The game is still good fun, especially with friends over Xbox Live, and even by today’s standards it’s certainly playable. However, as with all retro games something is lost between the memory and the actuality of playing it again, but it’s still a happy trip down nostalgia lane.