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.

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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.

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

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.

In this episode our hosts welcome forum member JT to editorialize on auteur theory in gaming, discuss what they’d give up gaming for, contemplate Final Fantasy censorship, and ponder selling out.

We’re on Twitter: @racketboypodcst

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Show Outline:

• (“Four Brave Champions” – Castle Crashers)
• Playing/Pickups
• Guest Editorial: JT on Auteur Theory in Gaming
• Retro-Related News
• Forum Thread of the Fortnight
• Mailbag
• (“Flim Flam” – Tetrisphere)

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.

Presented by BulletMagnet

See more of our Shmups Guides (including our Beginner’s Guide to Shmups) and other entries in our Defining Games Series

Even in an era dominated by high-end 3-D graphics, sprawling environments, and hundred-hour quests, if you mention the phrase “video game” to a person one of the first images likely to enter his or her head is that of a tiny spaceship sprite blasting away two-dimensional aliens; such is the enduringly appealing nature of the classic shoot-em-up, or “shmup”. Countless such games have come and gone over the years, some more worth remembering than others, but only a select group can be singled out as truly “defining” components of the genre: the following is our best attempt to honor these special titles, and to tell you exactly why they’re here.

Space Invaders Series (w/ Galaga)

Sure, Spacewar! is technically the one that started it all, but it wasn’t until Taito’s terrifyingly persistent hordes of pixelated extraterrestrials decided to (ever so gradually) descend to Earth that humanity lined up en masse for a chance to defend its turf…or at least a seat at the arcade machine. If one name on this list is iconic enough for even non-gamers to recognize, Space Invaders is it: the tank that can only shift left or right while firing straight upwards, the rows upon rows of critters chipping away at your defensive walls, the ever-more-frantic music as the enemy line advances, the occasional warbling bonus UFO, all unmistakable. Though its borderline-ridiculously successful glory days are by now consigned to the history books, Space Invaders’ enormous impact is beyond dispute; original creator Tomohiro Nishikado, as it happens, is still active within the industry today.

Invaders has been repackaged and re-released plenty of times, but hasn’t changed as dramatically as one might expect after more than 30 years; that doesn’t mean, however, that the more recent Invaders offerings haven’t done anything interesting in their own right. Fans of the original should definitely check out the cartoony, parody-ridden Akkanvader, the completely reskinned and much-modernized Space Invaders X, the powerup- and bonus-loaded Space Invaders Extreme, and the semi-trippy, evolution-themed Space Invaders Infinity Gene, not to mention offshoots like Space Invaders Get Even. Several of these variations feature cooperative and/or competitive multiplayer modes, and some even allow you to move vertically(!), but the main idea always remains simple enough for any potential challenger to grasp: blast ‘em all before one of ‘em gets you.

Though nearly ever shooter to follow owes a debt to Space Invaders, one very “direct” descendant, Namco’s Galaga, deserves to share the spotlight for a moment. While its older brother Galaxian first attempted to advance the Invaders formula by endowing individual aliens with the ability to break formation and dive-bomb the player, Galaga’s additional enhancements, like a more generous fire rate and occasional bonus levels, have earned it a much more prominent place in gaming lore, as its own lengthy and still-growing series of releases will attest. Anyone who’s ever played it more than a few times still remembers when he first figured out how to free a “captured” ship from the enemy forces to double his firepower – a precursor to both the omnipresent “power-up” and myriad counter-intuitive “suicide strategies” which would grace countless shooters to follow.
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Xevious Series (w/ Layer Section)

Its name hasn’t remained in the public eye to the extent that some others have, but this is the point where the shmup as we know it began to emerge in earnest: detailed, scrolling backgrounds split up into recognizably separate levels, a “dual-plane” setup which differentiates between ground- and air-based targets, enemy AI which keeps track of and exploits the player’s inherent weaknesses, end-level bosses with “core” weak points to attack. Hmm, any of that sound familiar? You can thank Xevious (and sole creator Masanobu Endo, whose numerous other credits include Grobda and Tower of Druaga) for bringing it all together in such fine fashion.

The original game, after all these years, remains the best-known of the lot; as with the Space Invaders games most of its sequels play pretty similarly, but seeing as the series has become synonymous with “the shooter boiled down to its essentials” you can’t blame Namco too much for stepping back and letting it do what it does best. This is especially true in Japan, where Xevious not only defined the then-fledgling shmup for years to come but inspired merchandise ranging from music remixes to spinoff fiction – even in the USA it received the honor of being the first arcade game to rate its own television commercial. The little gray “Solvalou” player ship, unassuming as ever, has made several enjoyable return appearances since, including the enhanced and expanded Xevious Arrangement, the polygonal Xevious 3D/G, and Xevious Resurrection, a downloadable HD update on the PS3.

While not “officially” related to Xevious, Taito’s Layer Section series (which goes by several other names) also deserves a mention here, since it’s the closest thing to a “spiritual successor” that the former has ever received. Utilizing a similar “target sight” attack mechanic, primarily for picking off enemies lurking beneath, Rayforce (the series’ first game) stirred a fun-to-use “lock-on” into the mix, encouraging players to latch onto multiple enemies and blow them all away in one shot for bonus points. Sequels Raystorm and Raycrisis built promisingly on this popular central hook, but simultaneously hamstrung themselves by tacking on 3D graphics (which haven’t aged gracefully, especially compared to the high-quality sprites of the original) and inertia-infused ship movement (which hindered control accuracy); despite these unfortunate developments, no other shooters have been nearly as successful in donning the noble mantle first worn by Xevious.
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Zanac Series

In terms of pure technical achievement by a shmup developer during the genre’s heyday, it’s tough to name a more skilled set of artisans than Compile. Time and time again they would seemingly defy hardware limitations in the name of bringing awe-inspiring shooting games to the masses; it’s actually kind of difficult to pick just one of their products to single out here. While the Aleste series is the most prolific overall (anyone remember M.U.S.H.A. or Space Megaforce? That’s them), Blazing Lazers is perhaps the best-known release outside Japan…even the more obscure likes of Gun-Nac and Spriggan could well be worth at least a few words (to speak nothing of The Guardian Legend). In the end, however, it’s hard not to hark back to an earlier, especially crucial catalyst for all of Compile’s shooters to follow – an 8-bit tour-de-force known as Zanac.

First of all, Zanac establishes a tradition of granting players a wide variety of weapon power-ups to choose from, and awarding a moment of invincibility upon picking one up: fans were certainly grateful for these gifts, since Zanac manages to regularly pump more enemies and unfriendly bullets onscreen than you thought the NES or MSX was capable of, invoking only rare instances of slowdown all the while. Even more interestingly, most baddies don’t appear at pre-determined spots where experienced challengers can simply wait to pick them off: instead, their inherent patterns change based upon which weapon set you’re equipped with, ensuring that you’ll always have to keep on your toes a bit. On the flipside, Zanac is also very generous in handing out extra lives, so with a little practice the game shouldn’t be too hard to make headway in – just be prepared to hang around awhile, as it’s pretty darn long (another Compile trademark).

It’s almost a stretch to call it a “series”, but there are a handful of Zanac variations available: the MSX release was first, though an enhanced version for the MSX2, Zanac Ex, is the one most players will be familiar with, as it forms the basis for later ports to the Famicom Disc System and the NES overseas. After this point it was shelved for quite some time, but had not been forgotten by its makers: in fact, Compile opted to grant their classic creation a long-overdue encore just before closing up shop in the early 2000’s. The result, a PS1 compilation titled Zanac X Zanac, includes 3 iterations of the original game plus a brand-new entry, Zanac Neo, equipped with multiple playable ships, enhanced graphics, and a slightly more in-depth scoring system. That it remains so sought-after by players and collectors years later speaks to how fondly shooting devotees still recall Compile’s halcyon days: its fearless in-your-face play style has made waves all over the industry, but is best carried on today by developer Milestone, where several former Compile programmers have set up shop.
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Star Soldier Series

Frenzied high score chases have always been an important part of the shooting game equation, of course, but back in the early days the top spot on a machine’s list could more often than not be claimed only by someone who had a lot of free time to throw at a gauntlet of infinitely-looping levels. Hudson Soft decided to change all that, releasing a series of so-called “Caravan” games which shifted the competitive focus to bite-sized “score attack” segments, unique singular area packed with targets and secrets – and usually limited to no more than a few minutes’ running time apiece. Players still needed a degree of focus to reap the best rewards, naturally, but weren’t obligated to spend hours upon hours grinding away before glimpsing anything resembling worthwhile progress. In the meantime, those more interested in a “traditional” stage-by-stage shmup could just select the games’ “standard” modes instead, and enjoy unleashing an entertaining variety of weaponry to conquer a friendlier, more familiar challenge.

The earliest handful of entries in the series draw their groundwork inspiration from Tehkan (Tecmo)’s early arcade shooter Star Force (ported to the NES by none other than Hudson themselves), which offered a decent handful of ground targets and secret bonuses to shoot for, but the home console front is where things really started cooking, particularly on the PC Engine/Turbografx 16, with the advent of Super Star Soldier and its well-received followups Final Soldier and Soldier Blade, plus cute-em-up Star Parodier for the system’s CD add-on. Their sharp presentations and no-nonsense blast-em-up action can still impress anyone with even a fleeting fondness for a more classic brand of shooting, though subsequent attempts to modernize and/or resurrect the series since that gold-paved 16-bit run have reaped mixed results. Most of the noteworthy “Soldier” efforts, thankfully, have been reissued at least once by now, so there’s little excuse not to give yourself a 2- to 5-minute history lesson (or maybe a bit more) in wanton destructive purity.
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“1940” Series

As has been theorized elsewhere on this site, if someone says “shoot-em-up” and the first mental image you get isn’t of outer space, you’re probably envisioning a historically-based wartime setting instead – and, by extension, you’re quite likely recalling one of Capcom’s “1940” shmups. While not the company’s first foray into the genre, 1942 is the earliest one most people still remember, and the surprisingly rare Capcom shooter with enough legs to spawn a full-fledged series.

While the leadoff title kept matters pretty simple (a modest array of enemy types and basic power-ups, plus a limited-use “loop” trick maneuver to escape tight spots), sequel 1943 (and its revision, 1943 Kai) added in, among other things, additional weaponry and a “fuel” meter, which slowly depleted and had to be regularly refilled by item pickups. 1941: Counter Attack (apparently someone at Capcom realized they’d run out of war years to use for titles unless they backed up) mixes and matches elements from its predecessors and bumps up the presentation another level, as do the Raizing-developed 1944: The Loop Master and downloadable PS3 widescreen shooter 1942: Joint Strike.

If there was ever a genuine “departure from convention” within this series, though, it came in the form of 19XX: The War Against Destiny, which not only changes the setting a bit but offers players 3 different airplanes to choose from, each wielding a surprisingly vicious lock-on weapon and chargeable smart bomb. All things being equal, though, the earlier, simpler games once again remain the most consistently popular, which speaks to both the potency of the World War II theme and Capcom’s ability to successfully mold a satisfying journey around it, even with relatively limited resources at its disposal; this can be further testified to, in one sense, by the staggering number of imitators it’s spawned. The most illustrious of these is the Strikers 1945 series by Psikyo, which ended up becoming the developer’s most prolific creations, and can still be found waiting patiently for challengers in movie theaters and diner lobbies down to this day. It’s hardly alone in riding the coattails of the “1940” games, of course, and it’s beyond doubt that even if Capcom one day decides to abandon it altogether somebody else will be ready and willing to give us back the keys to the scrappy little P-38 Lightning we’ve grown to know and love.

Darius Series

In terms of the “structural” innovations you’d expect to read about herein, the Darius games can lay claim to a handful, such as being among the first shmups to feature branching stage paths, or the “partial” power-down system which wouldn’t render your fighter totally depleted after death. If you get down to brass tacks, though, Darius is first and foremost remembered for its one-of-a-kind aesthetic; no other shooter stood out nearly as much in terms of presentation at the time, and decades later it remains as unmistakable an onscreen sighting as ever. Where else, after all, are you going to find yourself facing down not the usual complement of generic alien battleships but schools upon schools of evil mechanical sea creatures, from sharks to whales to jellyfish to eels to lobsters to anemones? At the end of each zone, of course, awaits the requisite big, nasty boss, whose impending presence is announced via a frantic “WARNING! A HUGE BATTLESHIP IS APPROACHING FAST!” pop-up message – innumerable wise-acres over the years have seen fit to re-use and/or mercilessly spoof it.

Even if one elects to take a purely “technical” look at the series, the most skeptical of eyebrows will still end up raised. Just in case the early Darius games’ artwork alone wasn’t enough to grab your attention, maybe the huge three-screen-wide dedicated arcade machines they ran in would do the trick: the series’ most recent coin-op incarnation, Darius Burst Another Chronicle, unexpectedly resurrected this tradition to the delight of longtime fans. Once you’ve plunked in a quarter or two both your eyes and ears will find themselves subject to an all-out sensory assault, thanks in large part to the surreal, otherworldly tunes of Zuntata, Taito’s long-standing in-house band, and their uniquely intoxicating blends of aural static electricity. In Darius’ case the later games (particularly Darius Gaiden and G Darius, which allow players to temporarily capture certain enemies and exploit their extra firepower) tend to be the community’s favorites, though every entry has its rough edges here and there; regardless, once this seemingly-crazy pitch was greenlit back in the 80’s, none can deny that an artistic threshold was crossed for both the genre and gaming at large.
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R-Type Series

The shmup is generally thought of as a fast-paced species of video game, built around the utilization of reactionary “twitch” reflexes above all else, but any player more familiar with the genre will speak to the additional importance of regular practice, including some strict memorization, for success, and nowhere is this lesson better applied than within the confines of Irem’s digital flagship. True, you will indeed need to show off your spur-of-the-moment bullet dodging skills here, especially during boss battles, but making it that far will frequently require precise knowledge of each stage’s layout, which can be earned only through patient, observant trial and error (and/or YouTube replay viewing). Whenever danger approaches (which is often), make sure you’re both headed for the right spot and mentally prepared for what’s coming next; you’ve almost certainly booked an express ticket back to the last checkpoint if you aren’t.

Perhaps to an even greater degree than its heavy emphasis on player repetition and endurance, however, R-Type is best remembered for its two main means of helping players to survive the trials awaiting them: a chargeable main shot (yes, there was a time when it wasn’t a standard feature), and most importantly the “Force” pod. Invincible, detachable and deceivingly versatile, proper use of the Force is absolutely integral if one ever hopes to reach the end credits: proper positioning can stave off a sudden assault from the rear, sneak around barriers to eliminate threats before your vulnerable ship swoops in, and even attach to bosses’ weak spots to bring them down in moments. Later R-Types like Delta and Final introduced different varieties of Force for players to choose from, tricked out with everything from homing abilities to bullet-blocking “umbilical cords”. This indispensable mechanic, not to mention the series’ uniquely Gigeresque visual flair, was (surprise, surprise) quickly ripped off by countless other developers, with varying levels of panache – none, of course, has ever quite managed to hit the same sweet spot with audiences as their inspiration.
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Gradius series (w/ Parodius and Salamander)

Few developers can stand shoulder to shoulder with Konami, and this goes double when it comes to shooters – several of their earliest titles, most notably Scramble, laid the foundation for innumerable future releases. That said, the words “Konami” and “shoot-em-up” will evoke something else entirely in most listeners, namely an urgent command to “Shoot the Core!” Any shmupper worth his salt is familiar with the ever-rough-and-ready “Vic Viper”  player craft (so named for its twin frontal prongs and trailing “option” helpers, meant to mimic the fangs and coils of a snake), and instinctively aims for that small central weak point to blast open the shiny crystal “core” whenever a big baddie comes out to play. Other squeal-inducing highlights for fans include ring-spitting “Moai” (Easter Island) statue heads, rapid-scrolling “speed stages”, non-stop “boss rush” encounters against several major enemies in a row, and the “power-up bar” at the bottom of the screen, which allows players to “cash in” generic collectibles for a buffet line of upgrades in any order they choose.

While the “feel” of playing a Gradius game has remained a relative constant over the years, the presentation has rarely failed to impress, no matter the era: the requisite “starry background” is never far away, but so are deserts, caves, jungles, fiery star clusters, deadly floating bubbles and glacier shards, organic interiors, and even patched-together graveyards of bosses you’ve wrecked in previous adventures. Each individual Gradius title embodies its own outgrowth of the original concept: within the “main” series, Gradius II introduces a “Power Meter Select” which gives players additional equipment options, III expands upon this with an individual weapon select, IV layers on 3D graphics, and V (which was actually outsourced to Treasure and G. Rev) allows one’s option pods to be manipulated more directly. Fan favorite Gaiden (“side story”) even lets you freely rearrange the order of the power-up bar: want the Shield to be the very first selection in the row? Go for it!

The legendary success of the “named” Gradius games, however, doesn’t fully capture the wider scale of their influence: even if you don’t venture beyond the borders of the shooting genre, not only have outside developers lifted the usual bits and pieces for their own use, but Konami themselves have frequently seen fit to conjure up a slew of spinoffs and tributes to meet demand. Gradius’ closest cousin is the Salamander series, which redeploys the Vic Viper against a different horde of enemies, adds vertical-scrolling levels, and ditches the power-up bar for a more traditional setup (though its best-known variation in the West, Life Force, reinstates it). Then there’s the unapologetically goofy Parodius lineup, which as the name suggests is a no-holds-barred send-up, painting a silly, humorous veneer on top of just about every series convention in the portfolio – while its most recent effort, the fan-servicey Otomedius, hasn’t lived up to its predecessors, it’s at least good to know that Konami, like us, is still willing to take up the fight against those pesky Bacterions.
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Twinbee Series

If you’re looking for overblown space operas and dusty battlefield scenes filled to the brim with explosive destruction and danger, shooters have always had plenty on tap: what, though, of those who’d prefer something lighter and more cheerful, albeit without the cheeky, winking antics of a Parodius? Well, leave it to Konami to once again put together an answer in the form of Twinbee, a batch of shooters out to capture the inoffensive cheer of classic comedy anime, and the godfather of the so-called “cute-em-up” subgenre (their most famous kin is probably Fantasy Zone, a cartoonish take on Defender). The first few Twinbees played a lot like Xevious, right down to the “bomb target” floating in front of your ship to attack ground enemies with – you could also, however, obtain power-ups by shooting clouds to release bells, which could be “juggled” with your bullets to change their color to the upgrade you wanted (easier said than done), alongside a few other unique touches. The second game, localized on the NES as “Stinger”, is one of these, and the entry most Westerners have played.

Over in Japan, though, the best was definitely yet to come: in 1991, eager to take full advantage of the technical advances brought to bear since the series’ inception, Konami hired on anime producer Jujiro Hamakawa (better known as Shuzilow HA) and composer Michiru Yamane (who’d eventually gain larger fame for her work on Castlevania: Symphony of the Night) to jazz things up a bit, and jazz up they did with that year’s Detana Twinbee. The series’ most iconic characters (Light, Pastel et al) were introduced, the visuals and sound were given huge shots in the arm, and the airy, appealing personality of the series was rightly positioned front-and-center to the point that it inspired, for starters, its own radio drama series and a handful of OVA productions. Followups like Pop’n Twinbee and Twinbee Yahho! (not a typo) enhanced the endearingly bubbly atmosphere further, packing in additional weapons and abilities, richer graphics and large chunks of voice acting – unfortunately, the “angry and brown” modern era has been especially unkind to Twinbee’s unfettered cuteness, and little has been seen of the series lately, though there are still a handful of cameos to be glimpsed in Konami’s recent output if you know where to look.
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Tatsujin/Truxton Series (w/ Batsugun)

As with Compile, it was clear from the beginning that longtime developer Toaplan had earned itself a place within this article, but trying to nail down their most influential contribution was one heck of an ordeal. Its very first shooters, the helicopter-centric “Tiger Heli” games, would definitely qualify, as would their WWI/WWII-themed cousins, the “Flying Shark” lineup – both certainly set the stage for the developer’s other famously lengthy and challenging shmups, and occupied prominent positions in countless arcades back during the good old days. When you step back and look at things from a historical perspective, though, Toaplan’s true “defining” moment came about in 1988, when they decided to leave Earth behind and take a trip to the glittering realms beyond: their vehicle for this sojourn was a title known as Tatsujin (“Truxton” in the West). None of the developers could have suspected just how huge this project would turn out to be, let alone what kind of ramifications it would have farther down the road.

On a basic level the game is not too dissimilar from its predecessors, aside from an even more infamous reputation for merciless difficulty: where it goes off in its own direction is in how much effort is put into making the experience so immediately engaging, on all fronts, that players will keep coming back no matter how much crushing adversity they encounter. Aside from the blatant appeal to diehards found right in the title (which translates to “expert”), Tatsujin leaves behind the somewhat bland visual elements of Toaplan’s older games in favor of a brighter, bolder brand of spritework which would serve as an emblem for both the company’s mature efforts and its eventual posterity. Stages and enemies are also more varied in nature, with mid- and end-bosses serving as particularly terrifying spectacles for player and arcade passerby alike: even your smart bomb’s explosion, a huge, menacing skull-shaped blast, is something of an icon in its own right. These attention-grabbing “just one more game” ingredients would be further refined not only in the game’s sequel, Tatsujin-Ou (“Expert King”), but in much of Toaplan’s late product, particularly their final shooter, Batsugun.

Batsugun, in a nutshell, takes Tatsujin’s “visceral” brand of appeal and overclocks it. The purely superficial allure is still top-notch, of course, but both the player and his enemies have also been powered up beyond anyone’s expectations: both sides can fill the screen with projectiles in mere moments, and the result is the most frantic and over-stimulating shooting challenge ever seen at the time. A subsequent “Special Version” experiments with a number of consequential tweaks, most notably shrinking the ship’s hitbox to allow for a more balanced, spontaneous approach to dodging all that unfriendly fire – just like that, the “bullet hell” subgenre, which would go on to dominate the shooter landscape and carry it through the “lean years” of the late 90’s/early 2000’s, was born. Batsugun deserves to take a lot of the innovation credits for itself (especially since many of its creators would soon set up shop at other companies, and take things in exciting new directions), but it behooves shmuppers to also remember the less-glorified predecessor which affixes this revolutionary title so firmly into genre history.
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Raiden Series

If you mention this series to your gaming friends and they don’t recognize it offhand, try mispronouncing it “Ray-den” (a la the original Mortal Kombat’s selection screen), as opposed to the proper “Rye-den” (Japanese for “thunder and lightning”) – that’ll probably get them on the right track. Though developer Seibu Kaihatsu had flirted with the scrolling shooter once or twice before, it wouldn’t succeed at carving out a lasting niche for itself until 1990, when the first entry in the series proper arrived. Unlike much of its contemporary competition, Seibu has never truly attempted to “modernize” its best-selling series (at least not in the same sense of the word); interestingly enough, this has turned out to be exactly what’s enabled them to stay relevant, as arcade-goers yearning for a bit of interactive comfort food can and will always know exactly what they’re in for.

Need a quick primer? The storyline is barely there, the weapon system (including the hypnotically-wiggly “toothpaste laser”) is about balancing out shots with missiles, scoring is heavily reliant on highly obscure techniques, and every enemy is a nasty machine with an evil red gem inside of it…whose bullets ALWAYS move considerably faster than your jet fighter can. Though the games span locales from countryside to outer space and send all manner of these frustratingly-tough adversaries your way (you’ll curse those sneaky “sniper tanks” in ways you never knew you were capable of), you’ll have seen (and been killed by) them all before, and the lot of them are still rendered in the same loving detail as the last time you met.

Every Raiden remains characteristically faithful to its “classical” shooter ancestors, though more recent iterations measure in a pinch or two of extra depth for just the right hint of spice. Raiden DX, for instance, is modeled after Raiden II, but gives players three unique “courses” to play through, each packed to the gills with little scoring tricks to exploit; Raiden III and IV not only redo everything in 3D, but reward players for killing enemies extra-quickly, even tempting daredevils with a “Dual” mode in which two planes are controlled at once. Then there’s the space-themed Viper Phase 1 and the trio of Raiden Fighters spinoffs – the latter, in particular, pour on the adrenaline, offering a large stable of selectable planes, powerful charge attacks, a much brisker sense of progression, and a set of extra-tricky “medaling” systems (no 1-ups though – bonus lives are for sissies!). At a glance it can be tough to spot any particular element which allows such a “generic” shooter to stand out from the rest, but the fact of the matter is that few others can so adeptly bottle the unfiltered appeal of the shmup for mass consumption – near-constant tension, near-impossible odds, huge explosions, no justification needed for any of it.
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Thunder Force Series

Considering how deeply the shooter’s roots are embedded into the sticky carpets of the arcades of yore, it stands to reason that most of its “defining” specimens hail from there: Tecno Soft’s celebrated blast-em-ups, however, buck this trend, and continue to occupy an extra-special corner of the collective gaming consciousness. Shmuppers whose “careers” reach back far enough usually praise the Sega Genesis as the superior 16-bit shooter console over the Super Nintendo (for the sake of brevity let’s not bring the TG-16 into this scenario), and no singular factor is more directly responsible for this disparity than Thunder Force – while its origins lie on Sharp, NEC and Fujitsu computers as an overhead free-scroller, the developers soon began experimenting with side-view segments which would come to exclusively define Thunder Force III and IV, the most consistently beloved of the bunch. Combining groundbreaking graphical showcases, tour-de-force synth-rock soundtracks, and breakneck pacing paired with accessible difficulty, these two are always the first Thunder Force recommendations from those in the know.

As with Raiden in the arcades, one of the series’ strengths on consoles was its ability to keep things simple and clean: while players could tackle certain stages in the order of their choosing, as well as switch between up to five different weapons and adjust their movement speed on the fly, there was no real scoring system to speak of, as the inherently-unpretentious excitement of the trip itself was enough to keep audiences glued to the TV screen. Tragically, as with much of the “old guard”, recent years have not been particularly accommodating to the likes of Thunder Force – during the 32-bit era the developer made an ill-advised attempt to “update” itself with polygonal graphics, a “super weapon” mechanic and a rudimentary scoring system, but the former have not held up particularly well and the latter ended up throwing off the weapon balance. Sega itself even took a shot at resurrecting the license on the PS2, but was unable to shrug off many of the mishaps that plagued the previous game. While Thunder Force’s time has likely come and gone at this point, its highlights are still fun to play any time the urge strikes you, alongside the rest of Tecno Soft’s catalog, nearly all of which borrows a page from their famous sibling – and who can blame them?
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Gunbird Series

So you feel like playing a shooter, but at the moment you’re not in the mood for an “old-school” game…and you aren’t really looking for a modern “bullet hell” experience either. What to do? Psikyo is a good choice of developer to bridge just such a gap, and while nearly its entire catalog sticks to many of the standards established by inaugural title Sengoku Ace, their sophomore effort and its sequel have best succeeded as ambassadors of sorts to the fans and the rest of the industry. Rapid, random-ordered stage progression, multi-transforming “Russian doll” bosses, a less-than-serious (but not quite “cute”) setting, and slow but powerful charge-up attacks are among the constants – and utilizing the latter at the proper time is incredibly important.

Larger enemies blanket the screen with very fast bullet clusters and the player hitbox is a bit too large to frequently squeak through on reaction, so having a well-placed charge ready to go can be a big help in bringing them down before matters get out of hand. Thankfully, colliding with an enemy (as opposed to a bullet) won’t kill you, but will power down your weapon instead – savvy players actually take advantage of this to soften the finicky rank a bit.

Gunbird 2, released several years later, takes the first game’s combination of aimed-shot anticipation and all-out aggression (not to mention the challenge level) to a whole other sphere: the slightly irritating “ammo-based” power-up system (a holdover from Aero Fighters, producer Shin Nakamura’s shooter projects with an earlier company) has been retired, and charge attacks are now supplemented by quicker, more user-friendly “melee” strikes, which not only makes getting in enemies’ faces feel more natural but better balances out the cast (just watch your energy meter).

The coin-based scoring remains simple in concept, but has welded on a timing mechanic to make the hunt more interesting, not to mention hidden “gem head” awards to uncover. The result is an attractive and easy-to-grasp but VERY tough-to-master shmup…especially if you can make it to the second loop. Psikyo’s inherent way of doing things leaves their games neither as “strict” as old-time shooters nor as “freeform” as danmaku, but even after the company’s closure retain a healthy, devoted fanbase (and many fly-by-night clones); Gunbird, whose “main” character Marion makes a handful of telling cameos within other Psikyo titles, has arguably done more than any of its peers to keep the party alive.
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Battle Garegga

As one of the few “stand-alone” titles on this list without a series to back it up, it should go without saying that Battle Garegga, notwithstanding the enormous influence it boasts, remains a stark monolith, standing proud and alone, separate from the rest. As a vertical scroller filled with aircraft and other machines inspired by the WWII era, on the surface it could pass for a lost entry in Capcom’s “1940” series, though the gritty, super-detailed spritework and intense, pounding score give off a harsher edge: as it turns out, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. While the basic weapon and scoring systems aren’t particularly complex (though there are secret elements to uncover for both, not to mention a selection of hidden characters, a hallmark of developer Raizing), the game’s real star is something that you never get to see out in the open but will constantly feel nipping at your heels from beginning to end: the “rank” system.

Basically, as the game progresses and your plane grows more powerful, enemies become stronger and more aggressive, to the point that if you remain too focused on building up your arsenal early on victory will be nigh-unattainable in the later levels. Unlike nearly every other shooter ever made, Garegga encourages players to deliberately spend as much time on the brink of defeat as possible: keep weapon levels as low as you can manage without totally under-powering yourself, expend most of your bombs on scoring targets instead of last-ditch defenses, and even regularly sacrifice spare lives to keep the tirelessly-climbing rank in check. This approach takes a fair amount of getting used to, but rewards thrill-seeking players with a primal high unlike any other: more importantly, Raizing’s extreme focus on rank manipulation and seemingly-self-destructive strategies kicked the door wide open for further experimentation and risk-taking not only in-house but by other studios (the high amount of enemy bullets present onscreen at high rank has itself been named as an indirect inspiration for the “bullet hell” style). No shooter since, for better or worse, has been bold enough to send its challengers to quite so harsh a boot camp as Garegga’s, and chances are good that it will continue to exist in steely solitude.
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DonPachi Series

As detailed previously, Toaplan’s stylistic evolution culminated with Batsugun, which laid the foundation for a brand new era of shooters, including those by Cave, one of Toaplan’s successors: Cave’s signature series, not surprisingly, remains Batusgun’s most decorated descendant. Aside from the “bullet-hell” conventions already covered, Batsugun also toyed with the idea of players altering their shots by either tapping or holding the fire button: DonPachi took the concept a step further, allowing these to not only “focus” their attacks into a more powerful stream but to simultaneously slow their rate of movement, eliminating the need for a separate “speed” button when additional precision was needed. This simple, intuitive device has not only reappeared within many of Cave’s subsequent titles, but has established itself as something of a standard addition to most modern shmups.

The second prominent feature popularized by DonPachi is “chaining” – while other companies’ titles had tiptoed around the concept, never before had it been placed into such a critical role or demanded so much from players. Instead of blowing away every enemy the moment it appears onscreen, bonus hunters are required to “space apart” their kills into one long, unbroken sequence; enemies left alive longer in this pursuit, of course, will keep attacking, and even small timing or positioning mistakes can force you to start the sequence over from the beginning. Depending on who you ask, the rising prominence of “chaining” (due in large part to DonPachi’s popularity) represents either a true test of player skill and dedication or a overly-exacting distraction from the spur-of-the-moment thrills that the genre is supposed to provide; either way the system has been remixed countless times by now, in various guises, many of them more forgiving than their forefather’s.

It might be said that a trip down the DonPachi series’ timeline largely corresponds to the larger path the shmup itself has walked during the past decade and a half. The first game, despite having one foot planted in the modern era, also recalls the “old-school” Toaplan spirit of years past, while its sequel, DoDonPachi, more decisively embraces the “bullet hell” label and places even heavier emphasis on the scoring system, setting a new genre standard and becoming a huge hit in the process. As the shooter was forced into commercial retreat a few years later, Cave both licensed out the property to IGS for a “semi-canon” third entry (Bee Storm) and programmed the fourth, Dai-Ou-Jou (“peaceful death”), itself; grim, tough as nails and even more unforgiving during high-end runs (thanks to the powerful-but-risky Hyper item), it aptly conveyed the market’s increased reliance on the long-time, battle-hardened fan sector (and was also Cave’s first game to receive a tweaked “Black Label” revision). Finally came Dai-Fukkatsu (“big resurrection”) and Sai-DaiOuJou (“greatest happy death”), which throw in a bit of everything, offering all types of players (including mobile phone gamers) something to enjoy; wherever the shooter is headed next, Cave and the DonPachi series will almost certainly be there to usher it in.
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Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga

Though jarringly disparate in their approaches and technically related only in a “spiritual” sense, both of these Treasure-developed works had a similarly sudden and dramatic impact on the shooting scene when they first appeared, and continue to exert a surprising amount of pull down to this day. Let’s start with Radiant Silvergun, which surfaced just as the “bullet hell” shooter was coming into its own – many others at the time were more intent on distilling the brief, simplistic, and intense atmosphere of the arcade into ever more concentrated doses, but Treasure decided to take things in a different direction, aiming instead to create the most “sweeping” shmup on the market. Not only does Silvergun grant players access to seven different weapons at all times (including a short-range sword that can absorb certain enemy shots), but it requires them to master the game’s own tricky brand of “chaining” to power them up (learn it quick, or find yourself under-equipped later on). Factor this into a lengthy, exhaustingly difficult boss- and trap-laden quest built around a dense, timeline-hopping story, and Silvergun remains the gold standard for anyone striving to build a shooter worthy of the “epic” moniker.

Then, of course, there’s Ikaruga (literally “spotted dove”), one of the few shmups that’s succeeded in finding a foothold among fandom and press alike in an increasingly-dismissive West – unlike its grandiose pseudo-predecessor, however, Ikaruga accomplishes this by exchanging scope for simplicity. The player is now confined to one straightforward “main” weapon and sent on a much shorter quest; most of the game’s attention is instead fixed upon a single gimmick, the “polarity change”. Every enemy in the game is either black or white in color, and likewise shoots either black or white bullets – your ship has the ability to change its own shade back and forth at will, either to absorb like-colored shots or do double damage to opposite-color enemies. Chaining is still here (as is a pretentious storyline), but a bit more freeform, and isn’t tied to weapon strength, so more casual players can still enjoy the game despite its stiff challenge; by the by, Ikaruga even snuck in a rarely-seen “non-aggressive” approach via its “dot eater” play variation. Rumors have been circulating for a long time of a “Project RS3” to follow up these two intriguing specimens, but even if it never happens Treasure can still claim more than its fair share of notoriety within the shooter circuit as it is.
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Raptor: Call of the Shadows and Tyrian

Late-blooming shooter fans might not recognize this pair so readily, but those familiar with the mid-90’s PC arena, especially in Europe, may well have already succumbed to nostalgia and reinstalled them. These two games come courtesy of totally different developers and are not actually related in any way, but it’s hard to name one without the other when it comes to discussion of the so-called “Euroshmup”, which rends the fanbase asunder like few other topics can. Raptor came first, boasting meticulous Raiden-style visuals and an inter-stage shop where players could buy most of their upgrades and shield energy refills. Those used to the tighter, more precise style of many Japanese-developed shooters, however, might find the level layouts and general flow of action comparatively clumsy, especially since a measure of “grinding” easier areas is required to save up enough money for the weapons necessary to survive later. Like it or loathe it, Raptor is explicitly designed to appeal to a different class of player than most shmups, and this has kept the game popular within its native territories, which aren’t otherwise known for their genre affinity; so popular, in fact, that a series of tweaked releases for various platforms have hit the internet as recently as 2011.

Tyrian, published by none other than Epic Megagames of Jazz Jackrabbit, followed about a year after Raptor but instead adopts an “outer space” veneer and a less-stark tone overall. In many other respects it apes Raptor pretty closely: vertical scrolling stages, mid-level shop, bold spritework, customizable weapons, lots of generous shields to cancel out sometimes-unavoidable hits. Instead of deviating too far from proven success, Tyrian simply offers more for players to tinker around with: the assortment of tweaks and armaments for your ship is wider, a remixed “Arcade” mode (which features 2-player) is included, and hidden levels, references to various other video games, and even a few minigames are sprinkled about (and as with Raptor, later revisions, some of which were conceived quite recently, toss in even more). Again, not everyone is enamored, to say the least, with the core games beneath all the trimmings, but Raptor and Tyrian have both failed and succeeded in ways that their more prestigious relatives have not, and inspire just as many imitators and pretenders: whatever your feelings, their continued presence simply can’t be disregarded.
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“Touhou” Series

Shmups might not see as many retail releases in this day and age as they once did, but look a little deeper and you’ll find that homemade “tributes” to fans’ favorites are absolutely everywhere, especially on home computers: a handful of talented “doujin” studios have actually managed to carve out respectable careers for themselves from humble beginnings, though none has come close to matching the stupefying success of a Japanese programmer known as ZUN. While his long-running “Touhou” (literally “Eastern”) series was born on the PC-98 and spans multiple genres, its most popular selections by far are a batch of scrolling shooters developed for the Windows platform. Starring a dozens-strong cast of young girls with mythology-based supernatural powers (who have themselves become nerd celebrities of sorts), the basic gameplay is similar to Cave-styled vertical “bullet hell” (which ZUN names as his primary inspiration, though ADK’s Twinkle Star Sprites is another), but frequently packs the screen even more densely with intricate enemy attack patterns, earning themselves the distinct “danmaku” (“curtain fire”) label.

Interestingly, these so-called “Shanghai Alice” titles have actually ended up influencing Cave in return; not only have the latter branched out into similar “moe”-themed territory in recent years but have adopted some of ZUN’s more user-friendly gameplay features, such as visible player hitboxes and a take-your-pick smorgasbord of modes and difficulty settings. Other Touhou trademarks, like emphasis on “grazing” close to enemy attacks, the ability to quickly bomb and save oneself even after being hit, and multi-layered scoring techniques haven’t strayed as far from home, though ZUN’s fellow amateur hopefuls certainly haven’t ignored them. Obviously the games’ presentations can’t measure up to those of studios with dedicated artists on staff, but the music compositions are at least as big a surprise hit as the games they come from, having inspired a bevy of remixes. Unfortunately no plans exist to “officially” localize any of the Touhou games, but fan translations are out there (and everything’s plenty playable even without them), so if you want to see for yourself what all the fuss is about there’s little reason not to download a demo or two at least.

Honorable Mentions

• Twinkle Star Sprites series – You might have caught a brief reference to this pair of distinctive “versus puzzle shooters” in the preceding segment, but the fact of the matter is that only a meager handful of games over the years has opted to follow in Twinkle’s bright, sparkly footsteps: that said, none can more capably sport the coveted label of “cult hit”, not to mention radiate so much effortlessly-disarming appeal to non-shmuppers. Cute on the outside and ruthlessly competitive on the inside, anyone who’s ever convinced a hesitant girlfriend to try this one will attest to the sheer joy of summoning forth a giant birthday cake of death to smite your opponent; if any other gamers happen to be nearby, at least one of them is all but sure to chime in and concur.
• Giga Wing series – Genre regulars memorialize Takumi’s Giga Wing as something of a pioneer in the field of “bullet-based” scoring systems, based around a central “reflector” mechanic that would long outlast the developer itself: most every other gamer who caught sight of it in real time, though, including a horde of hostile media reviewers, is more likely to recall how “unfair” and/or “impossible” it looked to them. For many, Capcom’s decision to localize the first two Giga Wing titles for the Dreamcast in the West served as a sudden, unexpected first taste of “bullet hell”; its heaping helpings of enemy aggression both terrified and fascinated gamers to a degree not seen again until the “Hardest Boss Ever” footage from Mushihime-sama Futari surfaced on YouTube years later.
• Cho Aniki series – While it’s tough to come up with much in regards to concretely noteworthy effects this…unusual series has had upon the rest of the gaming world (unless Muscle March could be considered a spiritual sequel?), the fact that just about anyone reasonably up on their geek lore is very, VERY much aware of its existence must count for something. Proudly flaunting more pumped-up dude flesh and phallic imagery than the rest of shmupdom combined, if you ever feel a hankering for a game which will almost certainly have you and any politically-incorrect guests you’ve invited over howling with laughter and shaking your heads in utter disbelief at what you’re seeing, break out one of these excessively manly shooters.
• Zero Wing – Yeah, I know that the joke has long since run its course at this point, but a quick tip of the hat is still due the otherwise-obscure shmup responsible for the infamous “All Your Base” meme: in case you weren’t already aware, the notorious intro sequence that started it all was not part of the original arcade release, but is found only on the European Mega Drive home port. The game itself is sorta-notable for its implementation of both Thunder Cross-esque vertically-aligned options and a short-range tractor beam that can capture certain enemies, but let’s face it, if you’re playing this thing it’s for one reason only: Great Justice.

Thanks as always to the members of the shmups.com forum for their help in putting this one together, and to Racketboy for his patience!   Also, thanks to our friends at HG101 for many of the screenshots.

Another PAX East, another year of stellar podcast coverage. This year we rounded up representatives from three upcoming games that are sure to make your retro sensibilities tingle and hit them with a barrage of questions.  Specifically, we chatted up folks working on Double Dragon Neon, Sonic 4 Episode 2, and Dust: An Elysian Tail.  Hear their answers to our questions as well as our general impressions of this year’s convention in this episode of the podcast!

Oh, and if you are feeling at all nostalgic for our old PAX East coverage, you can check out past years’ shows here, here, and here.

We’re on Twitter: @racketboypodcst

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Show Outline:

• (“Water Line” – Godhand)
• Intro
• Playing/Pickups
• PAX East Thoughts
• Interview with Pete Rosky about Double Dragon Neon
• Interview with Mia Putrino about Sonic 4, Episode 2
• Interview with Dean Dodrill about Dust: An Elysian Tail
• Thoughts on the Interviews
• Feedback/Mailbag
• Contest Information
• (“Main Title” – Double Dragon)

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.

Presented by Alienjesus

See the other entries in the Retro Gaming 101 Series

When you think of Nintendo handhelds, chances are you think of the Game Boy, which defined portable gaming for the masses. Or maybe you think of one of its follow ups, the Game Boy Color, or the Game Boy Advance. Maybe it’s the ever popular DS line that comes to mind first, or its latest handheld system, the 3DS. Chances are however, that there is one portable games console from Nintendo that doesn’t spring to mind: the Pokémon Mini. Not to be mistaken for the Pokémon Pikachu virtual pets which launched around the same time , the Pokémon mini launched at the height of the Pokémon series’ popularity in the year 2001 in Japan and North America (2002 in Europe), only a year after the release of fan favourites Pokémon Gold & Silver. Evidently, the Pokémon Mini was evidently meant to sell based on the brand name alone. However, there is more to this miniscule console than meets the eye.

Background Info

• The smallest games console with interchangeable cartridges upon its release (and quite possibly to this day), at only 2.91 inches (74mm) in height, 2.28 inches (58mm) in width and 0.91 inches (23mm) in depth.  The system weighs only 70g including the weight of the battery and game cartridge.
• Released November 16th 2001 in North America,  Japan a month later on December 14th 2001, with a European release following on March 15th 2002.
• Retailed at $39.95 in the US, 4800 yen in Japan and £29.99 in the UK. Game cartridges retailed for £15 in the UK and 1200 yen in Japan.
• All the games commercially released for the system were based on the Pokémon Franchise.
• Available from launch in 3 colours based on popular pokémon from Pokémon Gold & Silver: Wooper Blue, Smoochum Purple and Chikorita Green.

Pokemon Mini in Action

Historical Relevance:

• Nintendo’s smallest game system ever, and considered the smallest handheld video game system ever made.
• Released at the peak of the Pokémon craze, shortly after the launch of Pokémon Gold & Silver.  The system was marketed more as a children’s toy than a serious video game console.
• The system had a very short shelf life, with its last game (Pokémon Breeder Mini) released in Japan in December 2002 – only one year after the system’s release in Japan.
• Some of the games for the system appeared in cut-down form in Nintendo Gamecube release Pokémon Channel as unlockable mini games.

Strengths

• Region Free: Games from all regions should work in consoles from any other region.
• Size: Fits comfortably in one hand, with most games being designed to be played single-handed.  The console itself is only slightly taller and wider than an original Game Boy cartridge, whilst the games are around the size of a postage stamp.
• Controls: Features a simple but effective control scheme akin to the original Game Boy, with a cross D-pad and A & B buttons. A C button is mounted on the side of the unit fitting comfortably under the index finger. The system also includes a shock detector allowing you to shake the system to play some games.
• Battery life:  The console can last for around 60 hours on a single AAA battery.
• Pick up and play games:  Due to the systems limitations, the games all lend themselves to quick, pick up and play gameplay – perfectly suited to gaming on the go.
• Homebrew Scene:  Many simple games being developed for the system by homebrewers, with playable versions of games such as Sokoban, Pong and Snake available, as well as a variety of tech demos and very small, playable demos of games such as R-type and Sonic the Hedgehog. Flash cartridges for the system are also available.
• Extra Features: The system included multiplayer functionality between units using an Infra-red connection, as well as a surprisingly powerful built in rumble/force feedback feature and an in-built real time clock.

Pokemon Mini by Shahid Sarker

Weaknesses

• Small Game Library: Only 10 games were ever commercially released for the system, with only 4 of those released in North America.  Europe saw 5 releases, and Japan all 10.
• Monochrome Screen:  The console’s tiny 96 x 64 pixel screen was capable of even less colours than the Game Boy, with only two – Black & White.
• Poor Sound: The console’s sound chip is very high pitched and not the most pleasant sounding, rather like a Game & Watch or Tamagotchi.
• Low Tech: The console was released around the same time as the Game Boy Advance, but features visuals and sound more fitting of the Game Boy era or earlier.
• Price & Rarity: The console can be difficult to find for a low price, with many units costing the same as the system’s original launch price or higher. The majority of the games are also very rare and command a high value.

Game Library
The Pokémon Mini library consists of only 10 games, half of which remained as Japanese exclusives.

• Pokémon Party Mini: Bundled in with the console, this is a simple mini game package featuring many Game & Watch-like high score challenges, some of which are designed exclusively for multiplayer play. Several of the mono games in this are unlockable in the Gamecube’s Pokémon Channel.
• Pokémon Pinball Mini: A simple game that’s not actually much like pinball in reality. Using Diglett, you must shoot a ball at a number of targets on screen within a time limit. A cut-down version is available in Pokémon Channel.
• Pokémon Puzzle Collection: A collection of simple puzzle games with a pokémon theme. Puzzles include tangrams, video jigsaws, block sliding puzzles and a Pipe Mania-esque game.
• Pokémon Zany Cards: A simple card game featuring 3 pokémon themed games with similarities to Gin Rummy and Uno.
• Pokémon Shock Tetris: A highly regarded game released in Japan & Europe which commands a high price. The European version is exceptionally rare, with only a few thousand copies thought to exist. This game adds to the typical Tetris gameplay by adding ‘catchable’ Pokémon which are caught by clearing 4 lines at once, as well as an alternate mode which feature 5 block Tetrominos in addition the usual 4 block ones.
• Pokémon Race Mini: A quirky and simple platforming racer where you play as Pikachu and race various other pokémon along a course. Only released in Japan.
• Pichu Bros. Mini: Another mini game collection along the lines of Pokémon Party Mini. Only released in Japan.
• Togepi’s Great Adventure:  An interesting game where you must roll Togepi around small mazes whilst avoiding obstacles and trying not to fall off the edge of the stage. Only released in Japan.
• Pokémon Puzzle Collection 2:  A follow up to the first game which features 80 new puzzles. Only released in Japan.
• Pokémon Breeder Mini: The last commercially released game for the system, Pokémon Breeder Mini is also the only one to feature Pokémon from Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire. A virtual pet game featuring a decent amount of interaction with the Pokémon and environment of the game. Only released in Japan.
• Snorlax’s Lunch Time: Not truly a Pokémon Mini release, this game was only available as an unlockable Pokémon Mini mini-game in Pokémon Channel for Gamecube. A fast paced game where you must help Snorlax decide if the item in front of him is edible or not edible.

Tech Specs

• Unit features a real time clock, infra red port for multiplayer and a rumble motor for force feedback during games.
• Control input includes a faced mounted D-pad and two face buttons, along with one side mounted shoulder button and a shock sensor to detect the system being shaken.
• Features a surprisingly fast (considering the systems limitations) 8 bit, 4MHz Custom CPU.
• 96 x 64 pixel monochrome screen
• Game cartridges up to 512kb in size.
• Built in support for tile maps (3 configurations of 8×8 tiles) and sprites (twenty four 16×16 sprites).
• Affordability: Unfortunately, as the system was not a huge success and was released in small numbers, both the system and games command a high price. Consoles sell on eBay US for a wide range of prices, but expect to pay $50 minimum, with prices often stretching to over $100. Games vary greatly in price, but the most in demand titles such as Pokémon Shock Tetris and Pokémon Breeder Mini often reach similar prices to the console itself.

Homebrew

The Pokémon mini has been hacked by a group of coders known as Team Pokémé. After opening up the console, the team developed a flash cart tech demo known as SHIzZLE (viewable here, Warning: very loud video) which features impressive 3D effects, image distortion, lighting effects and sprite rotation, and have since made tools available for developing homebrew Pokémon Mini games. There are several homebrew games available for the system, as well as many demos and projects in development. The majority of these can be found at the website of Team Pokémé, http://www.pokemon-mini.net .

Emulation

• Several Pokémon Mini titles can be played in cut-down form in the Gamecube game Pokémon Channel, including the Gamecube exclusive mini game Snorlax’s Lunch Time.
• PokéMini is the most advanced Pokémon Mini emulator, and is capable of being run on PC & Mac. Versions also exist for Dreamcast, DS, Pandora & Nokia S60.
• Flash carts capable of running Pokemon Mini commercial releases as well as homebrew games on the actual system itself are available at: www.Pokemon-Mini.net, the website of Team Pokémé.

Dave and John talk about the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series with Expert Correspondent TEKTORO, mull the fate of classic games being ported to touch devices, delve into a too-long discussion about their history of playing RPGs, weigh in on the Mass Effect 3 controversies, and go on for far too long in this most recent episode. Enjoy!

We’re on Twitter: @racketboypodcst

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Show Outline:

• (“Izumo in Despair” – Golden Sun)
• Playing/Pickups
• Retro-Related News
• (“Celebrational” – Super Mario RPG)
• Expert Corespondent Segment: Tony Hawk series w/TEKTORO
• (“Good Night” – Lufia and the Fortress of Doom)
• Forum Thread of the Fortnight
• Feedback/Mailbag
• (“Surface”  – Unreal)

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.

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

Sometimes retro gaming is not just about re-experiencing old games that were good. In the case of this month’s game, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2, it’s about re-experiencing an old series that used to be good. In recent years, the Tony Hawk skating game franchise has done itself approximately zero favors. Wacky peripherals, questionable game design, and a lack of quality have tarnished the reputation of this once sterling IP. This month, Together Retro looks back to the video game that made Tony Hawk a household word and established the formula for high energy, arcade style sports games that would be the norm for years to come.

Concept

Skate. That is it. Your skater is placed into an urban location such as a warehouse or a school and is set loose upon all horizontal and inclined surfaces. Scattered throughout are items to collect and barriers to break through. All the while the clock is ticking while you perform skateboard stunts one after another to increase your score. If this sounds simple, that is because it is. That simplicity is what makes THPS2 so addictive.

Controls

In its day, THPS2 was hailed for having incredibly intuitive control schemes. THPS2 is a perfect example of a game that is easy to play, but hard to master.
You use the D-pad to accelerate forward or slow down. Pushing left or right will make your skater lean. Almost all steering is done while in motion so the player will have to plan ahead to navigate effectively. Tricks are mapped to the other buttons. On controllers with four face buttons, one button will be dedicated to jumping, grinding, grabbing your board, and kick flipping your board, respectively. Shoulder buttons are used to rotate your skater while in the air. Special moves are performed with an almost Fighting Game esque scheme, utilizing directional button inputs to get what are essentially ‘powered up’ versions of the four basic tricks.

Features

Like the original THPS, THPS has a high energy soundtrack of punk, rock, and rap songs and makes great use of the licensed likenesses of several professional skaters. In addition, THPS2 introduced a very important element: Create-a-skater. If you decide you do not want to use one of the pre-determined skaters, you can design and dress your own. An RPG like stat feature lets you allocate ability points to augment the skating style you prefer.
One of the most impressive features is the Park Editor. THPS2 allowed players to design their own custom skate parks. Because of how easy it was to copy files between memory cards, it was common for groups of friends to share their designs and challenges, exponentially increasing the replay value of a game already crammed with replay value.

When the original THPS2 was made, developer Neversoft had access to Marvel IP’s. Do not be surprised if you see a certain red and blue clad super hero swinging around the skate park.

Legacy

Let’s not talk about this, okay? In all seriousness, this month’s Together Retro conversation will probably be as much about how the THPS series has declined as it will be about how good THPS2 is. THPS2 took everything everyone liked about the original game and magnified it. Most of the features THPS2 implemented, such as the secret characters, create-a-skater, park editor, and the manual trick, became the series’ norms. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 was incredibly well received and largely supplanted THPS2 as the go-to game of the franchise.

Around the fourth game, it became apparent that not enough was being done to keep the series relevant or to evolve the gameplay. Subsequent entries and spin-offs such as the Tony Hawk Under Ground or Tony Hawk Skate Land took the same gameplay and tried to re-package it in a story driven format or with new control schemes. More recently, the series was retooled to be used with a balance board like peripheral that was not terribly well received. Whereas Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 sold millions of copies at retail, there were reports that Tony Hawk Shred failed to move more than a few thousand units, despite an aggressive marketing campaign.

There is hope for the franchise, however. An amalgamation of the first two Tony Hawk Pro Skater games is being developed, sort of an HD hybrid of the two. It will be made available on Playstation Network and Microsoft’s Xbox Live. Ironically, a series that refused to evolve and then evolved too far, too fast in the wrong directions could be saved by a return to where it was in the late 1990′s.

Recommended Ports

You are spoiled for choice this month. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 originally debuted on the Sony Playstation but it was quickly made available for the PC and Nintendo 64 as well. Later, the game was revamped and re-released for the Sega Dreamcast and Microsoft XBox. In 2010, THPS2 was ported to iOS with only a few features removed.

A mobile variation of the game was released for the Gameboy Color and another version was a highly acclaimed launch title for the Gameboy Advance.

Music, levels, and graphics vary between all versions to one extent or another. Preference will largely be on what game system you have access to, and which controller feels best in your hands.

Discussion

Instead of posting in the comments section of the blog, we will be using the forum for all of our discussion in order to keep things more organized. We like to keep the chaos in the video game. So design yourself a skater and let us know how many ways you found to break your virtual wrists and ankles. A good round of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 involves just as many cringes as it does moments of awesome.

Presented by RetroSportsGamer

Check out the rest of our Rare & Valuable series to see what collectors are looking for

When one conjures up images of older sports games, they most likely think of a stack of sun-bleached PlayStation 2 games; victims of being sorted through and left to bake under the hot sun at a flea market or swap meet.  For years, the steady giants like Madden or FIFA have been mass produced across numerous gaming platforms, becoming nearly irrelevant just a year later when the next iteration is released.

Outside of a few classics that are still played (but worth hardly anything) through fan competitions or online leagues, the shelf life for sports games is incredibly short and the basic tenants of supply and demand dictate that many are worth just a fraction of their original retail price.   (This is a good opportunity to look for valuable games that most people wouldn’t realize are worth much)

In thirty years of gaming, there are a small number of sports games that broke this mold and, for reasons that will be detailed, are rare and in some instances worth a considerable amount of money.  In this piece, we have looked across generations of gaming systems, including Japanese and European releases, in determining the rarest and most valuable sports games.  There are some caveats when dealing with such a huge sample.  When looking at rare consoles like the Neo Geo AES, it is inherent that the sports games for that system will be worth considerably more than other consoles’ games.

We have looked to establish a baseline to what the common sports games are worth on the system to determine if a game really deserves inclusion.  When two prices are shown below, the amounts represent a range that the game has sold for in the last six months to a year, with the condition or completeness of case and manual dictating the higher number.

	Stadium Events – Nintendo Entertainment System – $2,125 – $24,000 The legend of this game has been told numerous times and the game remains one of the most valuable video games regardless of genre.  Upon its original release, Nintendo decided to grant the game a first party production, recalling the scant initial cartridges that had been sent out and renaming the game. 2000 copies are believed to have been the total distribution tally, but that does not consider how many of those were sold prior to Nintendo’s recall. Some have suggested that no more than 200 actually made it into NES owners’ homes.  Auctions and appearances of this game are seldom and a graded copy has gone through eBay a number of times in the last year.  While it recently sold for $24,000, the same copy was then listed later by the same seller for an astronomical buy-it-now amount, indicating the previous auction fell through. Check for Stadium Events on eBay
	Super Sidekicks 4: Ultimate 11 – Neo Geo – $8,000-$10,000 The Super Sidekicks series is quite popular among soccer/football fans and this extremely rare version is one of the most valuable Neo Geo games period. This is technically the final game of the series (Neo-Geo Cup ’98 was released later, but is actually a rehash of Super Sidekicks 3) and was only released in Europe. Check for Super Sidekicks 4: Ultimate 11 on eBay
	Neo Turf Masters – Neo Geo – $1500-$1950 Behind only Metal Slug for US value on the Neo Geo home AES system, Neo Turf Masters commands a monster price.  For those looking to experience the game, the Neo Geo MVS cart goes for $65-$85.  The game is also on SNK Classics Vol. 1 (many platforms) and is available on the Virtual Console.  Big Tournament Golf, the Japanese version of Neo Turf Masters, goes for around half the US asking price ($750-$900). Check for Neo Turf Masters on eBay
	NBA Elite 11 – PlayStation 3 – $800-$1500 EA famously pulled this title back and then cancelled it entirely after already shipping to retailers.   A recent “new” copy (“never played” is a better definition since it was not sealed in order to show the insides) went for $817 after 26 bids.  Sealed copies will range from $1000-$1500.  The value has really started to go up in the last six months and barring a warehouse being found with thousands of copies, NBA Elite 11 will only become more desirable to collectors in the years to come. Check for NBA Elite 11 on eBay
	Virtual Bowling – Virtual Boy – $1,300 This Japanese-only release should not be confused with Nester’s Funky Bowling in the US.  Developed by Athena, a copy recently sold in Japan for $1,300 in June 2011. Check for Virtual Bowling on eBay
	Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition Net Link – Sega Saturn – $400-$700. This NetLink version of Daytona USA: CCE is in fact the rarest North American Sega Saturn game.  It was available only through Sega’s online store, and making it even rarer is it’s almost totally indistinguishable from the regular version of Daytona USA: CCE. The only notable differences are found when opening the case up; the game features a black and white NetLink booklet underneath the standard booklet, and the disc has a small NetLink logo.  Unfortunately there is such a small sample size of sales of the last year or so that our examples are very limited. Check for Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition Net Link on eBay
	Punch-Out Special Edition – Famicom – $400 This gold cartridge edition of Punch-Out predated the US Mike Tyson version.  10,000 copies of the game were produced as part of a Nintendo Golf competition in Japan. Check for Punch-Out Special Edition on eBay
	James “Buster” Douglas Knockout Boxing – Sega Master System – $300-$400  This boxing title can boast that it is the rarest game on the system outside of Sonic the Hedgehog’s US release.  Released later in the Master System’s life, James “Buster” Douglas’ more known Genesis counterpart is only worth 1/100th of the Master System version. Check for James “Buster” Douglas Knockout Boxing on eBay
	Street Slam / Dunk Dreams / Street Hoop – Neo Geo – $150-$225  A rarer Neo Geo sports title relative to more popular franchises like Baseball Stars and Super Sidekicks, the game had three different names depending on the region it was released in.  Street Slam is a 3-on-3 NBA Jam type clone from the early ‘90s and as with other Neo Geo release, is considerably more affordable in its MVS and also Neo Geo CD format.  While not on any SNK compilation, the title is on the Virtual Console for those without any Neo Geo hardware.
	Great Ice Hockey – Sega Master System – $200 How does a common US game go from being worth $5 to $200+?  The Japanese version was only released through a magazine contest that coupled the title in with a Sega Sports Pad giveaway (before the Sega Sports Pad’s official release in Japan).  No box was ever made for it. Check for Great Ice Hockey on eBay
	Go! Go! Birdie Chance – PC Engine CD w/ Super CD-Rom – $125-$150 There is something for everyone with this list! This all-girl golf game is a Japanese exclusive on the PC Engine CD and requires the Super CD-Rom card. Check for Go! Go! Birdie Chance on eBay
	Pro Sport Hockey – Nintendo Entertainment System – $35-$150 Here is your rarest and most valuable widely released sports game on the NES.  Pro Sport Hockey is the only NHLPA licensed game on the NES, and standalone games go from $30-$40.  Complete copies of the game have received a lot of action in recent auctions and can run from $130 to $150. Check for Pro Sport Hockey on eBay Check for Pro Sport Hockey on Amazon.com
	Intellivision World Series Major League Baseball – Intellivision – $30-$100 The first sports game to use multiple camera angles, IWSB (for short) also used both the Intellivision ECS and IntelliVoice modules.  Pretty groundbreaking title in the history of sports games and if found complete, can fetch up to $100. Check for Intellivision World Series Major League Baseball on eBay
	World Series Baseball starring Deion Sanders – 32x – $40-$80  One of the rarer 32x games, this is World Series Baseball ’95 on the Genesis ported to the 32x with upgrade graphics.  A cart in good shape can go from $30-$40 and also sit unsold at $50 on a marketplace like Amazon.  Recently just the cart and a beat up box went for $40 (and quickly).  Finding even the opportunity to bid on a complete copy is very rare. Check for World Series Baseball starring Deion Sanders on eBay Check for World Series Baseball starring Deion Sanders on Amazon.com
	NCAA College Basketball 2K3 – Gamecube – $35-$80 Another example on this list of a game recalled, Sega Sports cancelled this game for the Gamecube shortly after release so copies are pretty sparse.  Ebay sales go from $40-$50 and up depending on condition and completeness but this is one I’ve seen decline in value in recent years. Check for NCAA College Basketball 2K3 on eBay Check for NCAA College Basketball 2K3 on Amazon.com
	ESPN NBA Hang Time – Sega CD – $50-$65 The Sega CD is not known for its sports titles, and is really only highlighted by a handful that EA brought over from the Genesis (NHL ’94, FIFA ’94, Bill Walsh College Football).  Sony Imagesoft published this lesser known title. Check for ESPN NBA Hang Time on eBay
	John Madden Football Championship Edition – Sega Genesis – $30-$50 A rental store exclusive (and also via mail order), this game was tossed aside with other commons and could be found very inexpensive in video store used bins in the late ‘90s.  Today, complete sets that are not mangled with rental store stickers can command over $50 but listings are rare.  A good instruction manual can go for up to $20 itself as collectors look to piece together a nice set. Check for John Madden Football Championship Edition on eBay Check for John Madden Football Championship Edition on Amazon.com
	Mutant League Hockey – Sega Genesis – $15-$50 More valued than its cousin Mutant League Football, Mutant League Hockey has seen a bump in price over the last year, with complete auctions going for up to $50 now.  The standalone cart goes for around $15. Check for Mutant League Hockey on eBay Check for Mutant League Hockey on Amazon.com

Additional Rare and Valuable Sports Games

• Super Sidekicks 4 – Neo Geo (JP) – $600-$800
• Windjammers / Flying Power Disk – Neo Geo $140-300 (JP $100-$200)
• Baseball Stars 2 – Neo Geo – $100-$130
• Space Squash – Virtual Boy (JP) – $80
• Super Copa – SNES – $50 – $150
• Super Sidekicks 3: The Next Glory – Neo Geo – $70
• Dusty Diamond’s All-Star Softball – Nintendo Entertainment System – $25-$50
• ISS Deluxe – SNES – $40 – $80
• ISS 2000 – N64 – $30 – $60
• NFL Blitz Special Edition – Nintendo 64 – $15-$50
• Jimmy Connors Tennis – Nintendo Entertainment System – $10-$45
• 3D Baseball – Sega Saturn – $30-$40
• Slap Shot – Sega Master System -$20-$40 (US release has the blue label and is the rare copy)
• Tecmo Super Bowl II: Special Edition – Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo – $15-$40
• Mega Man Soccer – Super Nintendo – $20-$30
• Chavez II – Super Nintendo – $15-$40
• Olympic Soccer – 3DO – $25

Special thanks to Digitpress, VGPC and neo-geo.com for the resources their sites provide.