Remember November - Psygnosis

It may be a well known fact that I spent a LOT of time playing on my Sega Mega Drive during my youth. And a few games really stuck out. Two of which were published by Psygnosis: Puggsy, and Wiz'n'Liz.

Days were spent with Mum and I writing down Fruit and Veg combinations to the various spells available between chasing down Wabbits. And I'm sure there were months spent before I finished Puggsy, because it was that friggin hard.

You couldn't save the game (though apparently you could if you had the Sega CD version) but you got a password set. But the amount of levels were ridiculous, especially if you were trying to cover EVERYTHING. Secret rooms, difficult bosses, and even more difficult puzzles to figure out.

There were even levels that one could get stuck in. And I still remember a level at a Mill, and you had heaps of bundles of flour, but I got so much flour and just jammed myself in and couldn't get out, and had to reset the console. Oh how I cried. I didn't have the last password. I had to start from scratch.

The thing about it was that you had to move objects and swing yourself about, even leverage yourself over cliffs and up walls. It was a unique experience, and an amazing Puzzle game.

Same with Wiz'n'Liz. Though not as difficult as Puggsy, the game lived up to it's name of being a Frantic Wabbit Wescue. You get a set amount of time to start, which may be around a minute, and you complete more and more levels using whatever time you had left from the last level you finished.

Then you had to collect more Wabbits using less time, and it just keeps going and going and going. I don't think I've finished the game on it's hardest difficulty yet.

But I miss these games. And these are games that should be brought back. Show these kids what the fuck a hard game is.

I'll just add it to the wishlist though, shall I?

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Sega's Finest of the '90s

I was going through the Playstation Network the other night, just window shopping all the various games that I want, don't want, and simply can't afford, when I came across an odd entry: Wonder Boy In Monster Land.

Now I like Wonder Boy.  Especially the Monster Land versions, they are great fun.  I have played that game almost to it's death along with its sequel "The Dragons Trap".  I think I even got Mum to buy it on her Wii many moons ago just so I could play it again.

But when I saw it sitting in amongst the W-Z section of the PS3 Downloads, it hit me.  We still live in the 80's and 90's.

It's been over 2 decades since they released the Sega Master System.  Two Decades.  Video games have grown exponentially since then.  They no longer have cartridges or wired controllers with two buttons and a D-pad.  They aren't limited to 16 Colours and a resolution that's smaller than what my phone can produce.

Yet I can still pick up for $7.50 a game that I played as a child. (And didn't finish until I was in my 20's, on the same console no less)

Then I look at some of the other games I have.  They're fairly big games, like Crysis 2, Little Big Planet, Skylanders.  They're all fairly intricate games in their own rights, and are siginificantly prettier than a game like Wonder Boy.  Probably much better too, even though it doesn't have basic amenities that games have today, such as an Auto-save.  Mind you, the game could be completed in 20 minutes given a perfect run, so no need to worry about it.

It was then that I remembered a recend release, Penny Arcade Adventures: On the rain slice precipice of Darkness Episode 3.  This iteration of the game was released in an old 16-bit V-RPG format, a throwback to games like Final Fantasy, and a need to actually strategise when you enter a battle.

I was somewhat disappointed that the guys at Penny Arcade didn't make a competition with a prize of a remade Sega Mega Drive and a Cartridge with the game on it.  Maybe it's an idea for them in the future.  Like PAX Aus.  Though I suppose it doesn't stop others from porting it.

Anyone looking through digital distributors would find more and more games released in 16-bit formats.  And I can't help but look at it and think how ironic it is that even though we're at a point where a game can be as immense and intricate as your own city, yet there is still a place in the world for a world that could be drawn with Lego.

Does the world really need games like World of Warcraft when you could be playing a Final Fantasy MMO with a toon no more intricate than your desktop icons?

Well apparently not.  Introducing Minecraft.  While it incorporates the 3D sort of scale of a modern game environment, it has the graphical application of Pitfall.  Okay, I exagerrate a little, but it's only a little.  It's still not the most glamorous of games.  Yet it's still one of the most popular because of what you do in it.

What do you do?  Well you mine and you use various levels of cubes to create your very own personalised island of insanity in between mining for certain cubes and fending off monsters during the night.

While the game may sound as simple as the bitmap images for the cubes, it has brought forth many creative results.  So it's not all bad for those who are either determined, or have enough spare time to do these sorts of things.

So while there is a place in the world for high resolution and detailed scenery, it still makes you wonder how much worth blockbuster games will provide in the end.