April 2009

  • Golden Axe Revenge on Death Adder

    By roskopp on 4/29/09 6:04am
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    Golden Axe: Screenshot from vgmuseum.comGolden Axe: Screenshot from vgmuseum.comSega developed and released Golden Axe in 1989 and the 2D side scrolling fantasy hack and slash affair was soon popular across the globe. You could choose from three characters and had to defeat loads of weird and wonderful enemies in your quest to defeat the evil Death Adder and rescue the King and his daughter. It looked great, the developers added a few features to a well established game-play style and it was an addictive title.

     

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  • Phoenix Introduces Boss Levels

    By roskopp on 4/20/09 3:20am
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    Phoenix screenshot from vgmuseum.comSpace shooters dominated the arcades after Space Invaders created thousands of addicts in 1978. The next few years saw a multitude of variations on the theme adding new mechanics and improving on the graphics and one such title released in 1980 was Phoenix. You piloted a spaceship and had to destroy alien birds that flew around the screen in formation. The big difference with Phoenix was the introduction of boss levels where you had to destroy an alien piloted mothership.

     

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  • Hack and Slash Dungeon Action in Gauntlet

    By roskopp on 4/8/09 6:20am
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    Gauntlet was huge in the arcades. It was the original hack and slash RPG which drew on the fantasy worlds of tabletop games like Dungeons and Dragons. Players had to fight their way through a series of dungeon chambers fighting off ghosts, demons, sorcerers and thieves not to mention death himself. The game was open ended so you could play as long as you liked and with up to four players teaming up to slaughter monsters it was incredibly popular.

     

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  • Pit Fighter: No Holds Barred Violence

    By roskopp on 4/2/09 3:57am
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    Pit Fighter screenshot from vgmuseum.comPit Fighter was a precursor to the Mortal Kombat series and it came out in 1990. It was a brutal fight to the death, a chaotic celebration of violence featuring a choice of three characters portrayed by real actors, a host of enemies and the prospect of three way battles.

     

    It was the first game to utilise blue screen technology in order to use real digitized actors in the game. They obviously captured multiple shots of the actors pulling specific poses and then slapped them together to give the rough impression of animation. This technique was later used to much greater effect in Mortal Kombat.

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