The game is a tough retro shooter, with amazing graphics and fantastic sound (you can read the full review here). To win this game, all you have to do is do the following:-

1. Follow @retrogarden & @r0ckmint on twitter.
2. Tweet: “I want to win #fireflyvegas by @r0ckmint from @retrogarden! - http://bit.ly/fireflyvegas – RT to Enter” (or click here to tweet it)

Entries must be received by Midnight GMT on 24^th May, with the winners contacted by that Friday. One entry per person. Good Luck!

One game that sits on the XBox Indie Game scene is FireFly Vegas, a game that is firmly entrenched in it’s retro roots.

Lets get one thing straight – this game isn’t a epic masterpiece like Mass Effect. You don’t absorb yourself in it’s complex storyline. However one thing is for sure – the game is good for a quick blast.

The game is a mixture between Robotron and Asteroids. You play a spaceship that has to shoot almost everything in sight. There are powerups that appear along the way, as well as a “jump” button (that I must admit I never managed to get work once during the time playing this review). Instead of a hyperspae as in Asteroids, protection is provide by a finite supply of smart bombs that destroy everything on screen. The controls are unbelievably solid, with the game adopting the Robotron controls of 1 control for movement and the other is for shooting. You get full 360 shooting, which is pretty solid as well, so not screaming at the telly like with Robotron.

There are two game modes – time attack, which gives you five minutes and three lives to score the highest score possible, and survival, which gives you three lives to score the highest score possible. Scores are achieved by shooting anything and collecting bonuses. Both game modes are fine, however I found that there was no differential between them, which is important, as both games were fairly tough – it was tricky to survive more than about 2 minutes in both game modes. Furthermore, with scoring being between 10-100 per target & the default high score being 500,000, it can be tricky to make a name for yourself.

If you are a glutton for punishment, there is also an expert mode, which changes the game in that instead of your ship rotating on the landscape, the landscape rotates on the ship. Both game modes are included in this mode, it works actually surprisingly well, still tough but works well.

One thing that needs to be mentioned is the game is absolutely gorgeous. Great graphics and a thumping soundtrack, this adds to the experience and really lends to it’s Robotron roots.

So in conclusion the game is pretty good for a blast, but frustrating when you play it for long periods of time. Also I’d prefer a little more differential between the “time attack” and “survival” modes, though the expert mode is actually rather fun. It’s a tough retro style game that is well worth picking up, particularly if you enjoy either Robotron or Asteroids. But be prepared to die a lot.

The game is available on XBox Live Indie Games for between $1-$3 from RockMint Games, who you can follow on Twitter here and on Facebook here.

Buy FireFly Vegas from XBox.

This Review is by Dave from Retro Gamer Japan

Movie-based games for the NES were very common, and it’s safe to say that most of them aren’t the best games you’ll ever play. The same can also be said for games based on comic book games. Combining the two genres usually spells an instant recipe for disaster. However, unlike most games, the 1989 release Batman game, based on the film of the same year, is an exception to this formula.

Developed by Sunsoft, Batman is far from a trend-setter; it is similar in style to games such as Shatterhand and Castlevania. However, Batman takes the formula established by other games and makes it its own.

Batman features one primary weapon and three sub-weapons, again similar to Castlevania. However, unlike that game, Batman has access to all three sub-weapons at any time and can rotate them by pressing Start. In addition to his primary punch attack, Batman features his standard batarang, a batarang that explodes into three rockets and, in an odd choice for Batman, a gun that shoots rockets. Each weapon can be refilled by obtaining power-ups from defeated enemies.

The remainder of the controls are decent: A jumps while B attacks. Batman was one of the first games to include a wall jump, allowing him to climb two walls that are in close proximity to each other. One slight annoyance is the delay in jumping. Before every jump, Batman crouches on the ground for half a second before jumping, which can sometimes lead to timing problems.

Like most NES games, Batman is a challenging game, often in the platforming that is required to traverse a level. Levels often scale vertically and your greatest enemy is not the enemies themselves but the placement of them; it’s not uncommon for any enemy to be placed next to a jump. While Batman does have a life bar and can survive more than one hit, you will frequently find yourself dying.

The graphics in Batman are appropriate for the subject matter. The color palette features dark colors and the characters, while presented realistically, work well. Batman himself is presented in a dark purple which allows him to stand out amongst the dark background. Characters are animated well, especially Batman. After each set of levels, you are treated to a cut scene that, while not the greatest showcase of what the NES can do, is still impressive as cut scenes were not found in most NES games. One interesting note is that when Batman is defeated, he disintegrates as flames consume him, rather than just fall over and perish; it’s always fun to watch, which is good, because you’ll be seeing it often.

The sound effects are average, but where Batman really stands out is its soundtrack. Arguably one of the best soundtracks of any NES game, every track in this game features impressive beats that you will remember long after the game is turned off.

The only difference between the NES release and the Famicom released is in the aforementioned soundtrack. The Famicom version features the same songs as the NES game, just in a different stage order.

Overall, Sunsoft did very well to bring Batman to the top of its genre using its unique graphics, great soundtrack and impressive gameplay. If you enjoy platforming games of the Castlevania variety, and are up for a good challenge, you will have no problems getting into this game.

If you like Japanese video games, check out Dave’s site: retrogamerjapan.com. He’s got a nice collection of Famicom and Super Famicom consoles and games.

Expect this to happen, a lot!

Long before 3D Sonic games were all about bad camera angles, unreliable homing attacks and Big The Cat types, their main focus was on impeccable timing and awesome music – Sonic 3D was no exception!

Before being ported to the good old Sega Saturn to join the likes of Sonic R and Sonic Jam, this legendary 3D platformer shocked the world with its isometric camera angles and diverse gameplay. Little did we know that Sonic 3D would end up proving to be one of the most challenging games in the blue hedgehog’s career!

Nodding its head to the formidable platforming elements found in Snake, Rattle and Roll, Sonic 3D was a tough cookie of a game that required a keen eye for detail and a lot of patience! Successfully landing on a single platform would involve you judging distances and keeping a close watch on our blue hero’s shadow, whilst defeating enemies required a high level of both skill and patience. This game ultimately waved goodbye to easy boss fights and put a stop to speedily making your way through linear zones.

Special stages were somewhat familiar as you were thrown into a pre-set path that involved jumping over spiky obstacles and surviving with enough rings to earn yourself a brand spanking new chaos emerald. However, entering a special stage was a whole new ball game. Instead of simply finishing a stage with 50 rings and jumping into another dimension, you would have to hunt down your two-tailed sidekick or Knuckles and deliver a requested amount of rings to them. This was a superb way of forcing you to explore each and every zone and it definitely increased the games overall play time.

Isometric camera angles at their finest

The main aim of Sonic 3D was to relentlessly seek out and destroy Robotnik’s mechanical monstrosity’s and free the poor little flickies that were trapped inside. Sound familiar? Sure, but the twist was that you couldn’t possibly progress further into the game without first rescuing all flickies in the current stage. Easy as it sounds, once you had reached Spring Stadium the games difficulty increased by ten fold as it became a quest to keep your flickies free of harm – no easy task when danger was lurking around each and every corner!

Despite Sonic 3D’s development falling in the hands of Travelers Tales, Jun Senoue’s handy work still played a part in the games final product. Equipped with two separate soundtracks, Sonic 3D was a collection of catchy mellow rythms and pumped up trance – of course this was dependant on which system you owned it on. The Sega Saturn version boasted the most impressive sounds and graphics, whilst the Mega Drive was pushed to its capabilities with memorable stage music and never before seen visuals.

Unfortunately, Sonic 3D’s reign over the platforming genre is long gone, but such an innovative masterpiece will remain in the heart of every 90’s kid for years to come. Fantastic music, challenging boss fights and plenty of exploration to be had, what’s not to love?!

The Western Release

Black Belt for the Sega Master System is a side scrolling beat ‘em up with a decidedly Japanese overtone. The game is actually a localised version of the Japanese game “Hokutou no Ken” which is known in the west as “Fist of the North Star”, which in turn is based on the manga series of the same name. However, when the game was first released way back in 1986, Fist of the North Star was virtually unknown in America and Europe, thus the need for localisation. While this game has background featuring Japanese castles and the like, the original game was actually based in post-apocalyptic urban setting. Needless to say they changed the look of the game quite a bit. Black Belt is also a very rare occurrence of reverse localisation, as the game had a western like urban theme in Japan which was changed to a traditional Japanese theme for release in the west.

The game was published in 1986 by Sega. One of the programmers of Black Belt was Yuji Naka, who would later go on to become the lead programmer of the first Sonic the Hedgehog game. This game was release quite early in the Master Systems life cycle, but it still looks pretty good. One annoyance is that the game is prone to a lot of pixel “clipping” or “flickering” when there are a lot of sprites on the screen at once (which is all the time).

The core mechanics of the game remain intact. There is more kicking, punching and feet-to-the-facing than you can shake a stick at. Although the basic enemies all look the same, and shatter (I repeat, shatter) when you hit them, each stage is broken up by a couple of sub bosses. These sub bosses were actually characters from the Manga series, but not knowing who they are doesn’t really change anything.

Japanese Release

I wouldn’t exactly call this game easy. The sheer number of enemies you face at once can be staggering, and often causes physical problem within the game; sprite flickering and slow down. The sub bosses that break up the levels all have predictable patterns of attack but remain a decent challenge. The end of level bosses pose more of a challenge, as while they also follow predictable patters, your timing has to be spot-on to land a hit.

There are various power-ups available throughout the game. They come in the form of icons that fly across the top of the screen. Here is where things get a little tricky. The stock standard jump isn’t high enough to reach the power-ups that fly across the screen. You can however perform a high-jump by holding down first and then up (up on the D pad is used to jump). The problem with this is that while you are crouching and getting your timing right to nab a power-up, you are also getting your ass handed to you by the half-a-million enemies also on screen. It’s not impossible to get the power-ups, but it is a lot harder than it looks.

At the end of the day, Black Belt is a lot of fun and a decent challenge. The game doesn’t let anyone push it around, but at the same time it is not so difficult that it will make you want to give up in the face of defeat. I would recommend this game to fan of the side scrolling beat ‘em up genre, and also fans of the Manga and Anime series Fist of the North Star.

Maybe it’s infused into humanity’s DNA. The instinctual hunger for power can lay dormant for years, suddenly awakening at the most opportune moment. Some cannot satiate their appetite, with the promise of fame, fortune and glory an irresistible prospect. Unfortunately, there can only be one who holds the ultimate position of power. Only one who can be worthy of holding the Power Stone; a stone which can make your wildest dreams come true. Talk about an attractive proposition!

Power Stone was unlike anything I had ever played. Frantic, fast, hilarious and genuinely exciting; the game was a mad dash to grab enough gem stones (whilst pummelling your opponent) to transform into a powerful, near-invincible bringer of destruction. Two players battled it out in beautiful, interactive environments, littered with powerful weapons and objects which could be used to force your opponent to drop their precious stones. That’s right, you could literally be one stone away from transforming when BAM! , barrel to the face, a stone scatters and you’re suddenly staring helplessly as your opponent collects what was once yours. This back and forth gameplay created truly unpredictable counters, as you relied on your character’s combos, the environment and ultimately, the ability to efficiently collect the stones in your attempt to win.

After collecting three gem stones, which appeared randomly across the map, the transformed player had access to a long range special move and a close-range special move. If performed successfully, the character could inflict significant damage to their opponent, considerably shaping the battle in their favour. It was vitally important to judge the timing and position of your moves, as if you misjudged it or took too long (the power up only lasts for a short period of time), your character is consequently stripped of the stones, scattering them across the map.

There were ten characters to choose from and a number of different environments to compete in; my particular favourite was a delightful, Japanese garden. Each character was quirky and unique in their fighting style and appearance, with a cartoony graphical atheistic complimenting the game’s attractive qualities. The often inventive gameplay truly felt next generational, a refreshing and bold approach after the wave of 2D fighters that dominated the market. I salivate slightly when I think about how glorious Power Stone could be if placed in the hands of the right developer if it was to be recreated this or in future generations. Extremely detailed barrel to the face, scattering even more gems in a bigger wackier environment? Please make it happen Capcom! I’ve even thought of a fantastic slogan for Power Stone 3.

“Power Stone 3…Time to get Stoned!” Maybe I’ll leave it to the experts…

Power Stone and its sequel Power Stone 2 were later ported over to the PSP, providing accessible pocket power to the masses. The gameplay holds up extremely well to this day, even though the lack of modern features such as competitive online play are unfortunate.

If you haven’t had the pleasure of battling your mates in this fantastic, fighting thrill-fest then I encourage you to check it out.

If you remove the four small screws holding the two halves of the controller together you’ll find the rectangular pcb, the plastic buttons and the mushy button culprit: four small rubber membranes. These small rubber pieces give each button its spring–that positive feedback you get after you push the button down. Typically the A button rubber piece is the first to go. That’s the most used button in the Family Computer, AV Famicom and Super Famicom consoles. That’s the button you press a million times a second trying to get your man to run faster in a game like Hyper Olympic.

So how do I tell if my Famicom controller is bad?
Start with the A button rubber piece. Look for small cracks or tears between the center section and outer ring. If your A button is mushy and doesn’t have good feedback, you’ll probably see small cracks. Rubber pieces with cracks just can’t offer the same spring. Sometimes you’ll find the center part of the rubber piece is nearly torn completely from the outer ring.

Click here to view the embedded video.

How do I fix my old Famicom controller?
The only way to fix it is to replace the rubber parts. And since the Famicom is closing in on 30 years since it went into production, finding NOS (new old stock) rubber pieces is nearly impossible. Your best bet is to salvage parts from a good, working #2 controller that hasn’t been abused.

It’s usually the #1 controller A button that goes first. I’ve seen fc #1 controllers that looked like they’d been used as a hockey puck, with both A and B buttons only partially functioning, yet the #2 controller still had the thin plastic protector film covering the top side, and buttons with excellent, like-new response. Scavenging spare #2 controllers is an option.

Usually the pcb and wiring on the FC controllers continue to work, trouble free. It’s rare to have a controller with good rubber that doesn’t work as it should. Though I have seen bad, flaky pcbs on occassion.

What about the AV Famicom and Super Famicom controllers?
The same principals apply to the AV and SFC. If you’ve got a flaky controller with poor response, carefully take it apart, clean out the dust, and check the rubber membranes. The AV uses the “dog bone” shaped controller. Since the AV and the SFC are not quite as old as the FC, their rubber parts might be in better shape–a 1983 part vs. a 1993 part.

Famicom controller buying advice
Ultimately, the quality of a controller boils down to how many times each button was pressed, and was the console put back in its box after use, out of sunlight? If you can’t actually feel the controller, if you are buying online, then give the A button a close look. If the seller doesn’t provide high quality close up images, don’t buy it. Look for wear marks around the A button. If you see definite wear marks, then don’t buy the controller. The cleaner the better. Even if you do buy a clean looking controller, the rubber parts inside may be worn out. But you stand a much better chance with a clean, less used controller. Also, you can simply ask the seller if the buttons have good response and feel. If the seller says, I don’t know, or No, then stay away.

I hope this helps you in your quest for quality controllers.

Dave at http://retrogamerjapan.com sells Nintendo Famicom consoles, games and more.

My Hero is a very early side scrolling beat ‘em up for the Sega Master System. It has very simple game mechanics and the graphics are about what you would expect for an 8bit title released in the mid 80s. The game opens to a scene of you (the Hero) on a date with your high school sweetheart, when some no-good rotten punk comes along, gives you a sucker punch and makes off with your pixilated companion. And thus begins your quest to save your girlfriend. The “plot” only really serves as a way to set the stage for the game itself. There is no dialogue or character development. It’s not that kind of game.

My Hero was first appeared in the arcades in 1985 before being ported exclusively to the Sega Master System in 1986. The game was released quite early in the system’s life cycle and has a slightly more old school feel to it. The game was published by Sega, but was designed by a company called Coreland, which would later go on to become Banpresto (and eventually sell its soul to Namco). Pointless piece of trivia: the company now makes arcade prize machines for a living.

The main villain of the game quite literally has a small army at his disposal. Seriously, I would love to know where he finds these guys. You really have to keep your wits about you when playing this game as one hit and you’re out. Luckily the controls are quite fluid so the whole game really boils down to timing your attacks. You have three fighting moves in My Hero, a stock standard punch, a leg sweep and a flying kick. The first two moves are adequate, but the flying kick ultimately makes them redundant. For whatever reason, the collision detection when fly-kicking someone in the head is really forgiving, meaning that with a little practice you can start taking out a couple of baddies at a time.

As is the case with most games in existence, My Hero gets increasingly difficult as you progress. Difficult to the point of making you want to put a cricket bat through your television set. It is so difficult that you earn points simply for moving forward. To me that’s like passing an exam just by showing up, however for a game like this one needs all the help one can get. There are also a few platform jumping sections, complete with fireballs, bombs and flying fire bombs, but to call this game a platformer would be bit of a stretch.

I have never finished this game myself; however I don’t think it can be finished. I am almost certain that the game simply repeats in a loop for all time, meaning that you NEVER GET YOUR GIRLFRIEND BACK. Or rather, every time you rescue her, she gets kidnapped again. This turns the game into a bit of an endurance run, but doesn’t take away much from the fun. And it is a lot of fun. The game is addictive in a really strange kind of way. It will probably bring you to a blood boiling rage due to the sheer difficulty, but it won’t make you want to throw down your control pad in defeat, either. And that, for better or worse, is the sign of a well designed game.

Multiplayer mode played out.

There is only one word to describe this game; Mad, absolutely mad. Grab your Game Boy Advance and get ready to be thrown into a world of absolute randomness.

Wario Ware Inc Mini Game Mania is as the title suggests a game full of Minigames , it was released by Nintendo for the Gameboy Advance in the year of 2003.  The gaming is nothing more than a rapid succession of the most basic gaming challenges , but it is how they are linked together that makes this game what it is.

At first glance Wario Ware Inc seems a simple and uninteresting game, but as I was soon to find out it could be nothing further from uninteresting. The story told in Wario Ware Inc is not one of the easiest to understand, but what I got from it was that Wario is attempting to make money by setting up a video game business. Players must make there way through each character in the Wario Ware world completing the challenges that are thrown at them. Each character has their own preferred style of Mini Games to dish out, 9 Volt for instance giving you 5 second nuggets from classic Nintendo games to go against. Whereas Kat offers up Nature based Mini Games. After clearing a certain number of Mini Games depending on the Difficulty of the level the player must win a ‘Boss’ game in which the player must defeat a Mini Game that has 3 levels increasing in difficulty each time , which gives a nice touch to finish off the stage. The only controls utilised in the game are the D Pad and A button, at first this may seem too simplified and unchallenging, and however as the game progresses you begin to see why this only adds to the addictive and attractive game play. A feature which I very much enjoyed in the game was the Bonus Games that became unlockable after attaining certain scores in certain categories. Games such as Paper Plane or Rope Jump became almost as fun and mad to me as the 200 minigames found in the central game, and kept me attempting for hours to beat my high score. This overall gives a feel of a game of seemingly large size when in fact it is a very ‘mini’ game.

Intertwined with the mini games are little animations.

When coming into a game full of mini challenges it would not be entirely fare to expect lush graphics and a fine tuned soundtrack. But it continued to surprise me that the graphics and sound in the game effectively enhance a game that is both addictive gameplay wise and beautiful to cast your eyes upon. With graphics superior to many GBA titles even though challenges last a few seconds the classic Nintendo challenges looked well drawn and suited to the game, and many other challenges were extremely detailed and interesting animations. The music is both ear pleasing and addictive suiting the games quirky but quick style. It is clear that the composer of Wario Land 4 has had input on the games soundtrack using many of the noises and sounds from that game in this one.

As quick and quirky as the game is, it does of course have a few minor flaws. The game can at points become repetitive when replaying stages and repeating similar mini games, and also the attempt at a story being incorporated does not merge well with the game style or gameplay.

Nintendo have always strived for innovation, despite falling short in many instances they always seem to produce something special, something with charm that is both quirky and original. Wario Ware Inc epitomizes this. It produces an experience for old and new gamers alike that is perfectly suited to the GBA console. Although at first it may seem too quirky and different, it provides too much fun to be looked over. A certain classic which sadly will never reach the audience it deserves.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In it’s latest release of DeRail Games, Shock and Awe changes the style completely from their previous two games which were bouncy ball games reviewed on this site. Shock and Awe is an alien shooter. Aliens have invaded, and you have to defeat them.

This game plays across between Alien Breed and Smash TV. The controls are fairly simple, with both of the analog pads used – one used for shooting, the other is used for directing your character through the levels. The controls are pretty secure, I never had any problems with aiming, and unlike Smash TV the game has full 360-degree rotation, rather than 8 directions for shots, it does make the game fairer.

There's often a lot going on on the screen.

Before beginning the game, you pick one of 4 characters. Each character has one of two different standard weapons (either a machine gun or a slower but more powerful shotgun), and a special attack which is unique to the character. These help you clear areas of enemies. You have 300 health points, and you can lose them at various, almost regular intervals.

Yes this game is tough, incredibly tough, as you can pick up different weapons, the flamethrower and the freezer are two that are fairly common. The freezer can come in handy when you need to get across various fires which take up the screen. Everything seems to hurt you, and there doesn’t seem to be any pickups to help heal you. It’s a tough game.

It’s enjoyable and a solid game, and for the price of 80 Microsoft Points it’s perfectly reasonable on Xbox Live Arcade. However on one player mode it is tough, on more than one players though, it is quite a fun distraction.

Buy Shock and Awe today for 80 Microsoft Points