Robotrekking...

I managed to get my hands on an SNES RPG by the name of Robotrek. I've progressed somewhat through the game, and I have to say it's pretty enjoyable, although it seems a bit difficult. I still haven't figured out how to do everything yet... although I do seem to have a pretty good winning combination for my robot.

Basically, you're an inventor's son and you've taken up the profession yourself. You fight evil "hackers" attempting to take over the world, and generally help out your hometown by building inventions for them and rescuing their children. This is as far as I've progressed, so I know there's quite a bit more to it. The overworld map is a bit unique, unlike some RPG's where you can walk anywhere and initiate in random combat, the overworld map in Robotrek seems more like the map used in Super Mario World.

I've played it for several hours now, and I'd suggest that if you like old-skool RPG's you give it a shot, you might like it. I tend to be a bit picky with my RPG's, but this one has me coming back for more. :-)

Remember Uniracers?

I was going through my collection (which will be growing quite soon when my friend finds his box of "old" games for me to try out), and I remembered Uniracers. It wasn't a real big hit for the Super Nintendo, in fact I believe I picked it up from the bargain bin at Wal-Mart several years ago for a really cheap price. It's a quirky race game where you race unicycles against each other and do stunts along the way to increase your overall top speed. The game uses the same 3D-rendering that Donkey Kong Country pioneered when it was released. All of the objects in the game have a nice clean 3D feel to them, even though it's only an SNES running the game.

Uniracers is a very long game, with plenty of races to accomplish, lots of options and the ability to do multiplayer. I've never actually beaten the game, but I have gone through many of the courses. Once you get up into the higher levels, it gets very difficult.

You may want to pull your SNES out for this game sometime. You really missed out if you never got to play it before. As I said before, the graphics are wonderful and you'll be able to pick the controls up in no time. I'll post some screenshots of it in action sometime and let you see what it's all about. On that note, what do you think of adding more screenshots to each post so that way you can see the game I'm playing as I describe it? It would be a bit of work, but I imagine it would make it more interesting for people to reminisce and think about these older games. I may do that in the future like I've done in a couple previous posts. It seems to add a bit more life to them...

Stay tuned for more gaming updates!

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

Hey, seems like the oldies never die. They just find themselves back on my computer years later. Remember Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri? It came out way back when and it was heralded as one of the best turn-based games ever! You can still get it as EA Games mass-produces them for their laptop value packs. It's a good game, although ironically it doesn't seem to want to play on my laptop right out of the box. Something about an incompatible processor...

The game is really in-depth and it'll keep you busy for several hours. I plan on playing it on my next trip out to Illinois if I can figure out what's wrong and make it work on my laptop. It's a great game for that too since it doesn't use the CD-ROM drive, nor does it need 3D acceleration. The battery will last awhile during play time... a good thing too since the game is so very long.

The game is a lot like Sid Meier's Civilization and Civilization II which game out many years ago. You control a fledgling faction and guide it through the path you believe will lead to ultimate victory. You can choose to fight, negotiate, spy, or do many other things in order to win the game. The course of the game spans several hundred years, chronicaling the landing on "Planet" to the advancement and transcendence of the human race. You can play with up to six other AI's or six humans, or anything in-between. You can also customize the planet you're on and make it more (or less) suitable for growth. The game gives you lots of options, and you can even create your own worlds or modify the alphax.ini file in order to customize unit stats, technology names, and add your very own factions to the game. It'll definitely keep you busy once you get hooked. Hours will drift on by as you play...

You can buy this sucker online, or in one of EA's game packs. If you've never played a turn-based strategy game before, it may be a bit much to bite off, but once you get the hang of it it's really fun. I just can't seem to find anyone who is willing to play it with me. :-\

Raiden Trad

Do you remember those classic side-scrolling/vertical-scrolling shooters where your only objective was to stay alive and blow up as many things as you possibly could? Well, I pulled it out and dusted it off to give it a shot on the Super Nintendo. I originally bought the game for Sega Genesis, but I found out they made it for the SNES as well. I've officially played through and beaten both, and for the most part they're quite similar. The SNES version seems to be easier, and not quite as graphically-intense as the Genesis version. As gamers from that era know, the SNES had more colors to use, but it ran at a slower clock-speed than the Sega Genesis.

The controls are nearly identical, and other than the graphics and some different sound effects, they're the same exact game with the same bosses. If I had to pick between the two, I would go with the Genesis version since it has prettier graphics and doesn't have any slowdown when there is a lot of action on the screen. It may difficult to pick up either of those games, but you may be able to find them in the bargain bin at Electronics Boutique or online at E-Bay. If you liked those classic shooters with non-stop action, you'll like Raiden Trad!

Sopwith

Here's an old game that goes back even farther than my time. It's an oldie but goodie, and one of the original creators released the source code for it. You can pick up several different variations of this game online. There are some that have overhauled graphics, and there are some that are almost exact duplicates of the original.

So what is this game you ask? Well, it's a 2D-scroller that has you in control of a Sopwith aircraft. You use your guns and limited bombs to destroy the enemy forces. The game isn't easy, but it's very addictive and has many levels. If you'd like to check it out yourself you can download it from Classic Gaming's Sopwith Website. There are plenty of different games to try out. I highly recommend it, and best of all, it's legally free!