My brother sits not two inches away from me, our elbows brushing and occasionally jabbing each other. With my laptop appropriately nestled in my lap we lean forward and stare at an abstraction of two grizzled swordsmen locking blades, hunting for an opening. After a quick exchange of blows, all blocked, we retreat to our respective corners. For a moment we wait. Rushing towards the center, I blast an attack his way. With my sword about to connect my brother raises his weapon in defense, only to realize (too late) that I threw a feint. I seize this opportunity and deal the killing blow, splattering copious red stuff across the screen. And my score count just went up one.
The Black Heart reminds me of being four and playing Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters, this is something equally pure. This is a demake of PS1 hit Bushido Blade, and I actually like it more than the original title. It takes the rock, paper, scissors trichotomy of attack, block, and feint, merges it with precise timing and adds a good measure of hostility by letting you take only one hit. It turns into a mental exercise once you quickly get the controls down, leaving you to guess what your opponent will do and acting accordingly. This is multiplayer laid bare, in the trappings of an Atari title. Not bad for a game made in two hours.
There isn't a single player mode or any of that other glitz, but you don't need it. All this game requires is a friend, foe, or sibling and for the two of you to agree on when the game ends (my brother and I play first to 10, but we did a first to 100 once). Play and see how well you know each other.
N.B. The game's in a .rar archive, but hopefully that shouldn't be a problem for you. If it is I linked to WinRar, which should help you out. And if Dessgeega or Increpare are in attendance they should plug KotM, as it's cool stuff.
you're the one who's got
you're the one who's got their attention! you should plug it!
TAKE THE PLUNGE INTO GLORY
*shrug* I thought you could have put it more eloquently than I, but here goes.
The punks and punkettes that make up KotM are the Half Japanese of video games. They don't give a fuck what the guitar's tuned to, the act of creating is the focus. It's a Ludum Dare minus the coherency and a Poppenkast where the alcohol is optional. Don't expect the glitz of production values or polish of any kind, just be prepared for crudely awesome game mechanics/ideas. Three of my favorite indie developers (Dessgeega, Terry, and Increpare) are regulars. Here's some links to the ones on my hard drive.
INCREDIBLE ODYSSEY DELUXE
http://www.glorioustrainwrecks.com/node/399#comment-3003
The best Metroidvania ever made.
Mario's Macross
http://www.glorioustrainwrecks.com/node/399#comment-3040
Mario's cool and all... but what if he could morph into a spaceship? Discuss.
ANNABELL CHONG'S KILLING McCHAMBERS
http://www.glorioustrainwrecks.com/node/395#comment-2639
I don't actually know. You clicked on it.
Walker
http://www.glorioustrainwrecks.com/node/395#comment-2644
A big fuck you in the form of a masochistic platformer. Contraty to the title the only way to move horizontally is when you jump. Makes IWBTG seem like Knytt.
Sleeping Beauty
http://www.glorioustrainwrecks.com/node/395#comment-2646
A parody of the pron games I hear they make on Newgrounds, by Stephen Lavelle. Absurd. Salvador Dali's ghost nods in approval, shaves his moustache, and fires rounds at random passerby.
Starman
http://www.glorioustrainwrecks.com/node/358#comment-2284
Unexpected, trippy shit. You have to jump on the goomba.
And so Daphny won't yell at me in all caps here's a link to Dessgeega's Shootin' Starcade, a collection of her one note parodic riffs on old games.
http://www.auntiepixelante.com/?p=501
And if you want to help fund development of her latest flash game you should head over to her site and toss her a couple bucks. She'll make a pixel portrait of you that can be used to dazzle all your forum pals.
That work?
Half Japanese?
Wow. Now there's an obscure band reference. Saw them at the Knitting Factory once.
Indie Music Hipster Go
Yeah, the drummer from The Velvet Underground (one of my favorite bands) did a stint with them so through the power of the internet I found them out. Half Japanese' 2CD Greatest Hits is probably my favorite straight-up punk, next to Iggy Pop and the Stooges of course.
WHY DONT YOU HAVE ANY OF MY
WHY DONT YOU HAVE ANY OF MY GAMES SAVED ON YOUR HARD DRIVE
WHERES MY COMMENT
WHERES MY COMMENT
AS SOON AS YOU...
..provide a unibin OS X build. It is no longer a windoze world, my dear.