Another World: The Phenomenon

As a kid I loved games. It didn't matter to me if they were good or not, I still loved playing them. Each was a different experience, with a distinct graphical style and unique music and that was what was important to me at the time.  

Even the not-so-good games were worth a quick blast every once in a while but most didn't hold my attention for too long; There were just too many other games to play and besides, completing a game was an insurmountable task which demanded the kind of dedication I couldn't commit to just one game given the glut available. In short I was a computer game tart, just out for quick and easy thrills.

Once in a while though, something comes along that's so unlike anything else that it's like being woken up with a frappuccino enema.  I can still remember my first glimpses of Another World, contained in this Amiga 600 TV advert:

I didn't know what it was at the time as it isn't mentioned by name within the advert, but it looked incredible and unlike anything I'd ever played before and I'd been an Amiga user for years.  With a bit of asking around in the playground, I soon discovered the title and then set out to acquire the game for myself.

On booting the game for the first of many, many times, I was immediately captivated by the visuals.  I'd seen much more detailed graphics before, but there was something about the style and accuracy of the animation which made it seem special.  

I was convinced that the lack of detail was an artistic decision rather than the result of technical limitation and it's uniqueness added immensely to the immersion and mystique of the game.  




While some other games were trying to make the graphics as realistic as possible, this game concentrated on accurately capturing movement and subtle gestures for it's realism and unlike the others, it succeeded.

I now know that these natural movements were captured by a technique known as 'Rotoscoping' whereby the actions of a real-world stand in - such as a toy Ferrari and cut-out pistol - are filmed and traced from a TV screen one frame at a time. 

This is the kind of painstaking attention to detail which really added to the experience. Some may question whether it would it have been a lesser game if swigging from that drinks can, or grabbing that pistol didn't look quite so realistic, but while the gameplay may have been the same, the experience over-all would have suffered tremendously. Those carefully crafted incidental moments anchored the game in actual reality, making the highly stylised visuals more striking but somehow more natural at the same time.

The visuals and clean sound effects of the lavish intro were exceptional and I was immediately hooked. I couldn't wait for the game to start and as it turned out, I hadn't realised that it actually had already and I got munched immediately. No start screen, no menus just straight in - sink or swim, quite literally as it turned out! 

Gamers of the time were accustomed to a noticeable change in quality of visuals between the into and game proper and it would be many years before we saw game engine driven cut-scenes becoming the norm. Already this was feeling like an interactive movie, and not the naff kind of poorly acted, grainy FMV tosh that become popular in the early days of CD-ROM. The game proper had been running for just a few seconds and it had already broken new ground almost all areas.  What was to lay in store on the next screen? And the screen after that? I needed to know, I was going to find out - the game world had beckoned me. How could I refuse such a rare invitation.

And what a world. How completely realised and sublimely rendered.  The lack of graphical detailing actually enhanced the visuals as it dared the imagination to complete the picture the that superb animations hinted at. Incidental details included to enhance the immersion; Distant, wondrous mountain ranges and dreamy vistas punctuated with strange and fearsome creatures.  

Strange, towering cityscapes archaic in appearance yet alive with futuristic technology and hostile natives.  And to complete the experience, sounds, dreamily reminiscent and startling realistic. Now this was a world worth exploring if you could survive. 

Being unceremoniously dumped into a completely foreign environment with no tutorial to explain the controls was yet another bold move, but it was a challenge I relished.  

Again and again as new challenges arose, the player is forced to adapt and learn, or die.  The pistol for instance; once acquired, only by the careful observation of others wielding this versatile weapon will you unlock it's full potential.  

Fail to pick up on the clues and you'll die. You'll be eaten, mauled, have your head gnawed off, you legs chewed through, fall to your death, drown, be pummeled by rocks, be beaten to a pulp or have your moist flesh zapped off leaving only a carbonised skeleton unable to support it's own structure. 

Back at my school on Earth, an informal support group spontaneously developed amongst us Amiga owners. 

Problems and potential solutions to each of the puzzles could be discussed, theories and anecdotes about the world were exchanged and achievements applauded. 

This helped lend gravitas to the actual game as kudos was up for grabs if you were the first to figure out how to pass a certain point.

What unfolded was to be an epic journey of exploration, adventure and even companionship.  A glorious, balanced mix of desperate combat and devious puzzle solving; each as tricky as the other.

There were furious firefights where the air was livid with crisp, sizzling laser beams.  These encounters required cunning tactics as well as a quick trigger, using all available resources and exploiting the environment to gain the advantage.

To juxtapose this furious pace, there were liberal amounts of logic puzzles where only fiendish lateral thinking could see you safely through.  Many's the time I'd get that light-bulb moment, a potential solution to the puzzle that I couldn't wait to get home to try.  If it worked I was were elated, earned bragging rights for the next day and I saw the next section first.  If the gambit failed, I was crushed, frustrated but not deterred.

Having invested so much into this journey, it was with mixed emotions that I neared the conclusion. It was a relief to have completed such a grueling journey, but I knew my life would be emptier without the game to explore and I felt a genuine kinship for my alien companion, with whom I'd relied on and been through so much. It was partly due to my personal investment and partly due to the wonderful cinematics, that the bitter-sweet ending sequence evoked real emotion in me and, I must confess, the final sequence brought a tear to my eye - something no other game has managed before or since.

It's possible to play the game right through in 25 minutes, but going in blind with none of the solutions it took weeks of evenings.  The game, also known in America as Out of This World, was such a hit it was ported to the other 16-bit systems around at the time, but the console publishers, concerned about re-playability demand some minor changes: an extra baddie here and there which added little to the length of the game to the game.  Nintendo in particular were keen on having the length of female alien bum cleavage reduced in one scene as it was thought to be too provocative.  



Despite the publisher's concerns about it's length, it offered such a unique experience that it was ported to just about every machine of the day, with some creative tweaking required in by the game's creator, Éric Chahi, in some cases to get the required performance from machines. The game, a triumph of quality over quantity, continues to be ported to this day to modern systems, including iPhone and PS4.  

This release for the 20th anniversary features the options of high res graphics, re-drawn backgrounds, high quality music and remastered sound.  

The 20th Anniversary Edition really is the ultimate version (so far) and I was delighted to play it through again recently with one of the original playground partisans. Being armed with many of the solutions, it took us around 1.5 hours as our memory had faded a little and some sections needed figuring out from scratch.  It was immensely enjoyable to revisit that unusual place once more and it's highly recommended for first times too.

GYL Guest Review - by Andy Pryer

Follow Andy on Twitter @clammylizard

Every Day is Play. The Celebration of the Video Game - Review

This isn't just a book about gaming...it's a life story

When Matt Keynon set upon a journey of the discovery of gaming - he didn't realise at the beginning it would take him through so many adventures to get to his end goal - a somewhat similar experience to a video game.

Every day is play: The celebration of the Video Game is one of the greatest books we've ever read and reviewed. Let's just get that out there first of all. And we'll tell you why...

This bible of gaming is about Matt's dedication to the spirit of gaming - its art and design and the play and fun associated with what is a passion and obsession for many gamers - including ourselves here at GamesYouLoved. This isn't just a 'hobby'  - it's a way of life.

We did know a little bit about Matt and his homage to gaming previously - having seen some of the Mega Drive Exploded Series and graphic gaming art imagery released a few years back. 

But his story goes back even further than this. In fact it starts when Matt was just 6, having inherited his Uncle's Atari MVS and a batch of games. This initial spark set him on a path of play, discovery and investigation. His intro piece to this in the book describes it beautifully (no spoilers further!).

And this book is a result of his hard work..from the time in 2005 when the idea of producing a book first came to Matt - to now, when we can all enjoy the fruits of his labour.  
With Nolan Bushnell the founding father of Atari and video games writing the foreword - this could only get better. And it does. Visually stunning artwork and design stretches from cover to cover and we love the mix of and variety entries, which for us sums up gaming over the years. It has no limits - to our imagination as gamers and the people who make and develop video games.

From Mario to Sonic, Pac Man to Space Invaders, all the popular characters are here. But even they are not just in typical form as you often see in popular media. Artists, publishers and game developers re-enact these gaming characters in different forms in captivating artwork. You will be surprised, engaged and interrupted (in a good way) with every page turn. And this is no comic or lightweight read. Weighing in at over 300 pages this is heavyweight in every sense of the word. And the print and finishing quality...Well - judge for yourself from these pictures. Anyone into having quality books on their gaming shelf will appreciate what we have here.

In terms of specific content - there are many many entries and contributors to the project. Including Darren Wall's Rom Alerts - showing off the 16-BIT work in 2005 to the Sensible Software book just recently. Edge Magazine has an array of interesting cover artworks that hit you from the beginning too.

Art is a key factor and the likes of Atomike Studio use Mario to great effect, as well as some impressive console art. 

We could go on. 

The imagery here should do the talking. And over the next few weeks we will be releasing more on our Instagram and social channels on Facebook and Twitter.

Finally lets not forget - this book could not have been made without you...the community. As a Kickstarter success this project was successfully delivered by Matt with his massive effort, skill, dedication and determination - and you believed in him.  

Well done - you have a fantastic book to show for it!

Get yours here:

www.fangamer.com

Matt's links:

www.gamepaused.net

@matthewdkenyon

How to set up SEGA CD / MEGA CD on the JXD

As part of the HOW TO Guides for JXD...GYL Fan and Friend Sean Tagg gave us a ten point plan to get the Sega CD/ Mega CD running 

GET 5% off a JXD at www.funstock.co.uk by using discount code: GYL 

Here goes:

1.download and install MD.EMU, then select the App.

2.Select Options / System.

3.You will need to Download the Bios files for Europe, USA and Japan if you want to play game from all regions.
Select USA Bios and then locate the path to your saved USA Bios file. Seen below [bios_CD_U.bin]. Find all 3 file paths.

4.Download a SEGA CD / MEGA CD rom.  Google search!

5. Only games with the .iso & .wav files are compatible. Click on file listing to check.

6. All good!

7. Click on the file to download then unzip the file into a folder with your game name.
Copy the folder over to your JXD game folder.\

8. Open up the MD.EMU app and select Load Game. Find your games folder and select the game.

9.Select the game ( .Cue file)

10.The game will load










Thanks,

Sean (OutRun86 Blog)

Also follow Sean on Twitter at twitter.com/sean_tagg

X-wing and TIE Fighter Review

Review by Ben Spring / Twitter @aurumaethera

I was chasing a winged TIE fighter around the bulk of a disabled Imperial freighter, desperately trying to line it up in my sights, when inspiration struck. I let my grip on the joystick loosen a little, and manoeuvred underneath the fighter, switching to my upward view to keep it in sight. As it continued to evade me, I pulled back on the stick, right toward its belly. The TIE Fighter pulled up, and slammed into the body of the freighter above it, exploding into chunks. I was still grinning by the end of the mission. 

Sometimes, we play retro games not just for nostalgia, but because they weren’t afraid to push big, complex ideas, and refused to dumb themselves down to the lowest common denominator.

X-wing was one of those games. One of the first proper polygonal space sims, it was arguably the game that turned LucasArts from the king of point-and-click adventures into the undisputed champion of Star Wars games. With the ability to pilot three rebel craft in a huge variety of missions, with the B-Wing added in a later expansion, X-wing put gamers into the world of Star Wars more vividly than any game had managed in the past. 

It wasn’t just the quality of the game’s engine that shone through, it was the presentation. From the gloriously MIDI-fied John Williams score to the howl of passing TIE Fighters, every aspect of the Star Wars universe is captured perfectly. The cutscenes are reminiscent of Monkey Island with their rich bitmap graphics, though the voice-acting can be a little dodgy at times, but they do a great job of laying on the theme thick and fast. I won’t lie, the first time I beat the last TIE Fighter in a training mission and that familiar, triumphant music blared out of the speakers, I actually punched the air in victory. A game hasn’t made me look that dorky in quite a while.
The gameplay was big on features, and punishingly difficult. Your control over the craft was staggering, letting you adjust your engine power to reinforce shields or recharge lasers, or shift your shields forwards or aft with a single button press. You could match the speed of enemy fighters, shoot down incoming torpedoes, and order a squadron of wingmen to defend you or take out your targets. Elite had set the bar for space titles nearly ten years before, and Wing Commander was little more than two years old, but X-wing rejected the trade-and-explore motif of these popular titles in favour of pure, raw dogfighting. 

Missions were complex, and hard. Losing in some missions meant the permanent loss of your pilot, forcing you start your campaign over again. Happily, with expansions, there were five separate campaigns on offer, so you didn’t always have to crawl back through the missions you’d just beaten, but the game was still extremely tough. Get a TIE fighter in your sights, and it’ll weave and pitch like crazy, making it a hell of a challenge to land even the two shots needed to swat it out of the sky. Come up against a group of tougher TIE interceptors, and you’d better hope you’re a good shot. Try to take on a Corellian Corvette without taking advantage of its blind spots, and you’ll be slag in seconds. It’s rock-solid, but it’s awesome fun.

TIE fighter took the successes of its prequel and ran with them. Pilots could be backed up to prevent permadeath, the number of ships on offer was now huge, encompassing pretty much everything from the movies, and the god-awful  2D map of X-Wing had been replaced with a full 3D map so awesomely good I’m surprised more modern space sims don’t copy it. Mission briefings were bulked up considerably, helping to keep your goal clear and meaningful. The voice acting was of a notably higher quality than X-Wing had offered, and there was now plenty of it during missions, rather than simply between them.

X-Wing and TIE Fighter have more than just retro appeal, although they have that in spades. The gameplay here is still some of the best space combat out there, even after two decades. With titles like EVE Valkyrie, ELITE: Dangerous and Star Citizen seeking to reignite the gaming world’s love of space sims (Let’s not forget that the original ELITE was one of the first titles ever to make it onto British news broadcasts for its success), anyone who considers themselves a fan of Star Wars or the space sim genre in general should definitely pick up the remasters of these classic titles.  If I had to pick one or the other, I’d probably say TIE Fighter is more worth your money, but you’d be missing out on a hell of an opportunity if you never got to lock your s-foils in attack position and pray that the Force guides your proton torpedoes into that pesky enemy corvette.

Download the games from here:
www.gog.com/

HD Retrovision - A Kickstarter Interview

We spoke to HD Retrovision about their now 'Live' Kickstarter project - its goals and expectations, and why its so important to support retro gaming systems of days gone by.

Tell us why you choose to work on a Sega & Nintendo retro gaming product - rather than a new generation console accessory?

We grew up on these consoles and they're the reason we're gamers today. It saddened us to see them threatened by the lack of support on modern TVs. 

Who are the products designed for?
The products are really designed for anyone who wants a simple, affordable, yet high quality solution to playing their old consoles on new TVs. It's true other solutions exist, but they can be expensive and messy, or require people to have hardware skills they don't have.

What was is about the Genesis and SNES that makes it so special?
The games on those consoles represent the pinnacle of gaming to us in a lot of ways.

The games had enjoyable story lines without hours of cutscenes, and designers were focused more on awesome gameplay than making the game have movie-quality graphics. They also feature some of our favorite video game music of all time. I still hear the Desert Strike theme in my head regularly.

How important are playing games for you when you making a product like this?
Very important. We've tested our cables across on many many games to make sure we don't run into anything unexpected. It's really the only way to know if you're going to run any issues if someone plugs a Sonic 3 into a Sonic & Knuckles into a Game Genie.

How has your background and experience contributed to the development of this Kickstarter?

Besides being avid gamers, we're both electrical engineers and mathematicians by training. This has contributed to us being very precise and methodical in our development of the cables. 

Tell us a bit about the technical details to feature in the product?

The concept behind our cables is not new, but the implementation is radically different. Through careful engineering, we are able to fit our custom electronics into a tight, enclosed space without an additional power source. This approach lowers the cost and headache compared with competing solutions, which we hope will give more people access to high-quality retro-gaming.

Left - composite video, Right with component from HD Retrovision cables

What are your favourite 5 Genesis games of all time?
Streets of Rage, NBA Jam, Kid Chameleon, Toejam & Earl, Earthworm Jim

What are your favourite 5 SNES games of all time?Megaman X, Chrono Trigger, Super Castlevania IV, Shadowrun, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 

What does retrogaming /gaming mean to you?

It's the a link back to our childhood. Retro-gaming brings us back to an era where some of our best memories were formed, often while playing these games with a good friend or sibling.

Back the Kickstarter here: 

GamesYouLoved at Play Expo 2014 - day two

Day two update - www.playexpo.net 

Manchester - 12th October 2014

The second day of Play Expo brought more of that old-school goodness with a modern twist, more costumed shenanigans and Retro game competitions with both prizes and pride at stake.

Sunday morning at Play Expo went a lot more smoothly without car worries to hold us back. The Games You Loved team got through the doors as early as possible, quickly unveiled our stand and hit the arcades for some cheeky games before the doors opened

I greatly appreciated the chance to try Smash TV and Tatsujin – two games I’d only heard of and would never usually get the chance to play, let alone see them in an arcade cabinet where they belong. As a younger generation gamer myself, experiencing all the 80s arcade machines in all their glory was a real privilege. The only thing I’d seen like it was Funspot, the American arcade featured in the movie King of Kong so it was a bit like standing on hallowed ground.

Forgive me for being a bit biased towards shoot’em ups but I have an unhealthy love for the genre, so here we go. I was able to play a real Galaga machine for the first time ever! Seeing the solid foundation behind the games I love was very cool, Galaga has definitely aged well which is probably why the series continues to this day. The same awe from playing on a real machine hit me when I tried Sinistar as well, it’s amazing to see how an old arcade game can be as intense an experience as Sinistar is.

Hanging out beside my beloved Progear cab while waiting for a turn gave me a chance to take in the friendly atmosphere of Play Expo. Shared passion makes for easy conversation and after a couple of attempts at my mission from yesterday I finally cleared the game on a single credit, and people who’d seen my efforts were quick to approach afterwards, have a chat and ask for advice about the game.

Day 2 brought out my competitive streak, even if that meant losing to Chris from the GYL team at Kung Fu Master, something I’m sure he’ll remind me of forever!

Alongside all this was a massive walkabout with Chris and a few of the other GYL team and some cool chaps in the community. When it came to arcades from Star Wars to Outrun you could pretty much take your pick.

I spent some time challenging people at Street Fighter games on the SNES, you have to respect the amount of time and energy these guys ‘n’ gals put into learning their fighting games, some of these brawlers were seriously good. I entered 8bit Planet’s Smash Bros Melee tourney despite being a pretty average player myself. 

Just watching the physical act of pressing buttons quickly was impressive enough; the better players’ hands were just a blur of movement and the game was being played so fast that a non-initiate probably couldn’t tell what was going on. As for myself I had the rare pleasure of actually winning a couple of matches before being knocked out of the third round in some really close games. One of my opponents was so good at mind reading he could tell everything I was going to do before even I knew, impressive stuff all round.

Some more exploration led me to a new indie game for Xbox 360 and PC called Tiny Keep, which invited me to begin my ‘tiny escape’. It’s a roguelike dungeon crawler with a charmingly cartoonish visual style that doesn’t detract from the game’s dungeon setting. You progress through randomly generated floors, hacking your way through enemies or leading them into traps. Once I figured out how to control my character I found it very fun, the random element is intended to keep players coming back for a varied adventure while each level has its own distinctive theme and boss.  My escape was cut short however when I ignored warnings to leave an ominous skull totem alone, disturbed it and was mowed down by a sudden ambush of skeleton warriors. As a gamer it’s hard to avoid interacting with any given object, but I definitely learnt my lesson.

Finally I tried out a retro arcade classic born anew on the Occulus Rift: Tempest! This was my first time trying the Occulus Rift for any type of game, so allow me to state the obvious; that it’s pretty damn cool. I won’t overdo it though. Even with the frantic shooter action of Tempest and its constant explosion of trippy colours, I wasn’t freaking out or having problems with my eyes afterwards like some testers have claimed. Somehow even in this crazy cyberspace disco, being totally immersed and having full use of my peripheral vision just felt natural. After trying Tempest I do wonder how I’d be affected by an Occulus Rift game that makes use of visual realism.

By Ben Cataldo

GamesYouLoved