Classic video games

Friday, March 19, 2010

Congo Bongo (1983)

Congo Bongo is an entertaining video game of platforms published by SEGA in 1983, originally for recreational machines, with a development on the part of Ikegami Tsushinki. The target of the throwing of the game was to face to the tremendous popularity of Donkey Kong of Nintendo, therefore the game system is very similar but from an isometric perspective and with a notable technical progress. Nevertheless, at level of recreational the video game was a commercial defeat but one gave him a new opportunity in the domestic devices where if it obtained a good reception: ColecoVision, Atari 5200, IntelliVision, Atari 2600, TI-99/4A, Commodore 64 and PC.

We take the role of a nice explorer who takes as a target to capture a giant simian known as Bongo, to take revenge, since the above mentioned simian has set fire to us to the shop. Obviously, the giant monkey goes to allow not to hunt easily and he will not hesitate to ask for help to all the animals of the forest, as well as attack straight our protagonist.

The video game consists of four levels (Primate Peek, Snake Lake, Rhino Ridge and Lazy Lagoon) that are recuring in a ringlet increasing his difficulty. Since we have commented, the game was trying to dispute the undeniable mastery of Donkey Kong, therefore we meet many similarities. In fact, basically we will meet the big simian throwing ourselves objects to the purest style of the gorilla of Nintendo. Nevertheless, this the biggest capture does not happen in all the levels and in the game importance the different pitfalls and enemies who are appearing in the way.

In the graphic paragraph he emphasizes his extraordinary coloring and the care in the design of the levels. The isometric perspective is inherited from Zaxxon since, in fact, both video games use the same hardware. In this sense, it is necessary to emphasize the good answer of the control panel before a perspective that still had not been much exploited. The sound-track limits itself to a short melody between level and level, being more out-standing the sound, quite varied effects and with different sounds that try ambientar the stage of the jungle.

In this video you can see how the game is:

Thursday, March 18, 2010

The Blues Brothers (1991)

The Blues Brothers is a video game based on the movie homónima (although in Spain one titled Loose grapes to all rhythm), directed by John Landis, led by John Belushi and Dan Arkroyd and released in 1980. The video game would come eleven years after the hand of Titus Software for diverse platforms (PC, Commodore Amiga, NES, Game Boy, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and Atari ST), being one of the platforms the most entertaining that we can be at the beginning of the 90.

As in the movie, The Blues Brothers is led by Jake and Elwood, whom we will be able to choose indiscriminately and even to take part two players of cooperative form. Since it was of waiting, two brothers have turned to get tangled up, so they will have to go fleeing of the claws of the law along five levels that compose the game. This way, we will have to happen for a shopping center, flee of the prison, to cross the river and to reach the big city to be free.

The video game two-dimensional outstanding figure appears before us as platforms with side sight, where we have to avoid enemies and pitfalls that cross in our way. Our personages protagonists have no skills beyond running and jumping, so they will have to use of the different objects that are to be able to advance. This way, our principal attack weapon there will be the boxes that we take and throw our enemies; we will use helium balloons to reach the highest places; and thanks to an umbrella we will be able to descend gently from big heights.

In each of the levels we will have to gather a special object to be able to finish it (a guitar, a microphone) reaching a pennant that indicates the exit. Also we will be able to be gathering different discs of vinyl that, on having come to certain number, will increase our life. Nevertheless also there exists broken vinyl that the discs book-keeper will reduce to us.

The graphs are created from a comical point of view, with an entertaining representation of two protagonists. Quite the personages move fluently and a speed that provokes a very dynamic game experience, increasing the diversion (that might turns reduced by the repetitive of his development). The designs of the stages are not anything of another world, but they fulfill his function at the time of ambientar the game. With regard to the sonorous paragraph, to emphasize the sound-track with some topics of the movie, although in a few improvable versions. Also, the above mentioned sound-track is the only sound that has the game, by what some effect is lacked.

After this first title, in 1993 The Blues Brothers would be thrown: Jukebox Adventure for PC, Super Nintendo and Game Boy, with a system of very similar game. Both qualifications would appear in a compilation thrown by Titus Software in 1994 under the title of 10 Great Games. With the throwing of the movie homónima, in 2000 Blues Brothers would be thrown 2000 of exclusive form for Nintendo 64. The latter game uses a system of game similar to Mario 64 but it was not provided with the support either of public or of criticism.

In this video you can see how the game is:

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Virtua Tennis (1999)

To the thread of the success of Virtua Striker, SEGA entrusted to his study Hitmaker (Harumi Azuma, Akira Fujiki, Takahiro Kajimoto, Yuko Nishimura, Kenji Shizumi and Yashuito Tanaka) the achievement of a video game of tennis for the recreational machine NAOMI. The video game distilled a quality without precedents, what king would end up by making it even more popular than the title based on the sport and that, in spite of being thrown in 1999, there are still to today many recreational lounges that have this video game. On the other hand, it would derive in versions for PC and Dreamcast with the extended game ways, and minor versions for Game Boy Advance and N-Gage.

Virtua Tennis is a video game led by eight real professional players of the highest level of the epoch: Carlos Moyá, Jim Courier, Tommy Haas, Tim Henman, Thomas Johansson, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Mark Philippoussis and Cédric Pioline. Each of the players has a series of proper characteristics, although in the way Arcade his skill will depend on the level in which we are.

This way, in this way, we will have to win in five parties different on surface (well-worn ground, grass and hard track) against one of these opponents chosen at random (in the end to face a fictitious top rival, King or Master's degree). In this way of game, according to which type of game we have developed, there will be granted to us a series of points that will define the ranking of human players. Also it is possible to realize this game way with doubles parties, in such a way that we will have eight fictitious support players.

In the domestic versions we will have, also, the way World Circuit, of a much more extensive duration. Here we will have up to ten different tracks for discovering (Australia, Paris, New York, London, Los Angeles, Stockholm, Berlin, Moscow, Barcelona and Tokyo), although in an alone beginning we will have two available ones, in addition to a shop with which to unblock new elements with our profit. As soon as he was elected our player, we it will have to evolve by means of competing in the different tournaments and realizing the training tests. With the money obtained with our victories we will be able to buy accessories, I access to new tracks and contracts with other tennis players to be able to take part in the doubles competitions.

In the parties in themselves, he emphasizes the character arcade from the game system, provoked for being a video game focused towards the recreational machines. Until now, almost all the video games of tennis were directed towards the simulation (what had left them almost of exclusive form for domestic devices), but in Virtua Tennis he competes for the direct action and the rapid game. In fact, the parties limit themselves to an only one set, with variable number of games and without politics of "tie break". This way, the type of more out-standing game will be that of attack, the victory being based in voleas and mates.

Virtua Tennis is registered by an excellent technical paragraph, very superior to other games of the saga Virtua seen until now. The design of the players not only was excellent and they were alike his "alter ego" real, but the personages move with an extraordinary gentleness and with very real gestures. To this it is necessary to add an excellent quality in the representation of the different tracks, especially as for the surface of the same ones.

After the success of this first delivery, in 2001 it would be thrown for recreational machines, Dreamcast and PS2 Virtua Tennis 2, very similar to the previous one but that also it was including players of the feminine circuit. In 2005 Virtua Tennis would come from exclusive form for PSP: World Tour, with many resemblances with the first delivery. The principal saga would continue in 2007 with Virtua Tennis 3 for recreational machines, PSP, PC, PS3 and XBox 360. The last delivery up to the date is Virtua Tennis 2009 for PS3, Wii, PC and XBox 360, implementing for the first time the way online.

In this video you can see how the game is:

Sunday, March 14, 2010

To Any Machine XIX: Sony PlayStation

At present, few persons will not know what is PlayStation, the most successful console of the fifth generation (102.5 million units). Nevertheless, the history of his birth is a heap of events that nobody could foresee, including the appearance of Sony as developer of consoles.

We have to begin the history in Nintendo, since Sony took part actively in the development of the SNES producing the sound chip of 8 channels, they being able in head as sound in the world of 16 bits. Nintendo was trying to develop a progress of the SNES including a breeding animal of CD-Rom, entrusting the development of this one to Sony, with what it would be the germ of Super Nintendo CD.

Nevertheless, the economic motives would lead to the misunderstanding, since Sony wanted to remain with all the rights (and benefits) of all the video games that were developed in CD-Rom for the new Nintendo console. The result would be the break of the negotiations since, also, Nintendo was defending the advantages of the cartridge on the CDs (especially bearing in mind that the consoles that had incorporated the CD, like Atari Jaguar, were a defeat), therefore he would entrust the new project to Philips. Pero Sony believed in his project, therefore one started working to develop its own games console, in such a way that on December 3, 1994 it would be presented in Japan.

Sony PlayStation was counting with a mike R3000A, of 32 bits RISC with a clock frequency to 33,8688 MHz, developed by LSI Logic Group. The GPU was separated from the CPU and was taking the whole contro of the two-dimensional graphs, helping up to 16.7 million colors and a resolution of 640x480. The sound SPU had 24 canalaes up to 44.1 KHz. His 3.5 MB of RAM were splitting into 2 MB of central memory, 1 MB for video and 512 KB for audio, apart from being provided with another 512 KB of BIOS and a buffer for the CD-Rom of 32 KB.

Sony wanted to introduce a change in the world of the games consoles, leaving behind the idea as which only they were serving to play and giving the first strokes of success of a multimedia center. This way, the console was implementing the aptitude to reproduce audio CDs, with a catalog of functionalities that was putting it at a height of a music center. On the other hand, in 1997 it would throw of exclusive form in Asia, a small game of PlayStation Video CD, which had the aptitude to reproduce videos in the above mentioned format. This gives good sample of which PlayStation was knowing about the evolution of the market, as also it demonstrates in the managers' inclusion análogicos (dual shock), as video games were developing in 3D.

Another version emphasized from the console is the PlayStation Net Yaroze, which was including a series of hardware and instructions that were allowing the applications development for PlayStation without need to have a kit of finished development, which supposed a sensitive economic advantage for the programmers. The last version of the console was thrown in 2000 under the name of PSOne, a version of more limited dimensions and the most popular price, what is a big sample of gives that it was the influence of the console on the market.

In these videos you can see a collection of 100 qualifications representative of the console:

Fair weather Bros. (1990)

It does a certain time we speak about the compilation of video games Japanese known as Puzzle and Action: Tant-R, which would come to the western world for slightly legal river beds, but which would go so far as to have a big success (although one of these minigames was injugable without having knowledge of Japanese). The design of the personages protagonists of that title were basing on the game that today we analyze, Fair weather Bros., developed and distributed by SEGA (some domestic versions distributed by US Gold) in 1990, it would be thrown originally for recreational machines although there would end up by being versions for Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga, SEGA Master's degree System, TurboGrafx-CD, Gentle SEGA Drive, Sharp X68000 and ZX Spectrum, appearing recently a version for the Virtual service I Consoled of Nintendo Wii.

The protagonists are the brothers Robo and Mobo (in some versions they are Mike and Spike), who dedicate to small nobleman thieves office. Precisely, it was foreseen that the above mentioned argument might have problems of polemic out of Japan, for what in some versions it presents the protagonists to itself as two personages dedicated to testear the accident control measures of the different buildings (in a slightly vulgar way, since, on having lost the game, we will keep on turning out to be shut up in prison). This way, our mission will be that of leveling different buildings (a bank, the mansion of a millionaire, an art gallery, a casino, etc...), to avoid the guards, to steal a series of objects and to rise up to the roof to be gathered by a zeppelin.

The game appears before us as platforms with action dyes, in such a way that our protagonist will be able to move for the stage and make use of a weapon to finish with the guards, although also we will be able to choose to hide in certain areas so that they do not find us.

At graphic level we meet a simple but original design, a few personages who move of entertaining form. It uses a horizontal division of the screen for the way of two cooperative players, with each of the areas showing the area where every player is. Curiously, although we play in the way of a player, the screen will remain divided, leaving a message urging another player who takes part in another game area.

In this video you can see how the game is:

Saturday, March 13, 2010

The crisis of 83

A brief introduction to the possible causes of the well-known "Crisis of the Video games of 83":

Outlaws (1997)

In 1997, the slope of the graphic adventures was beginning being a fact and his principal exponent, Lucas Arts, was increasing his interest in another type of genres that were allowing him to support his leadership position. This way, we would meet a big effort in the development of the licenses of Star Wars. Following this development policy, in 1995 Star Wars would throw herself: Dark Forces, a FPS that was presenting a novel graphic engine known as Jedi Game Engine. Making use of this technological jump, there would develop a video game which setting was diametrically different: Outlaws, a FPS that uses the same graphic engine but with western esthetics. The title would leave of exclusive form for PC and his development would be directed by Daron Stinnett, Stephen R. Shaw yAdam Schnitzer.

The protagonist of the history is James Anderson, a member withdrawn from the Deputies' Body of the United States (the acquaintances US Marshall) who, on having returned to his house of a trip, is that his wife Anna has been murdered and his daughter Sarah has been kidnapped by two outlaws (Matt "Dr. Death" Jackson and "Slim" Sam Fulton), who work for Bob Graham, who tries to convince with violence all the citizens so that they sell to them his cheap grounds. After the burial of his wife, James Anderson will set out to find his daughter.

Since we have commented, Outlaws is a FPS containing the principal characteristics of the genre but ambientado in the West (something that not habitual at all in the genre in that epoch, although later more similar qualifications would appear). Inside the campaign, he was emphasizing the way of major difficulty, which was limiting the life of the protagonist to one or two bullet impacts, what was providing him with a major realism and was modifying the strategy of game that one usually applies to the FPS. Apart from the principal campaign, Outlaws is provided with "historical missions" that they report as James Anderson goes so far as to turn in an US Marshall. Also, in 1998, an expansion would be thrown with new missions not connected straight to the principal plot.

At graphic level he emphasizes a styles miscellany, you miss at first sight, but that ends with a very curious result. The personages have a style design cómic calmed down enough for what it usually see in video games of the epoch. On the other hand, the stages are formed by extensive three-dimensional areas with a big setting, resembling the mythical movies of the west. The sound-track would be composed by Clint Bajakian, with the use of a real band (slightly slightly habitual in the video games of the epoch) and that can be reproduced introducing the CD of the game in a traditional CD breeding animal.

Outlaws would take a good reception as the criticism and a few discreet but sufficient sales so that it was not entering the negligence and was ending up by turning into a cult title. The system multiplayer turned out to be very interesting, but it would not end up triumphing for the participants' absence and, especially, for the compatibility difficulties with the different versions of Windows that were appearing after the throwing of the game.

In this video you can see as it is the game: