Arcadia

Kino One is a retro 80s arcade-style shmup, vertical-scrolling, with borrowings from the bullet-hell style and R-Type-like bosses. The 80s feel is reinforced by some nice flourishes; the start-game screen shows several arcade cabinets, and in addition to playing Kino One itself, you can select some of the other cabinets and play small Pac-Man and Arkanoid clones. Among the logos displayed during the start-up sequence is a Department of Justice logo along with a warning against drugs -- a common feature of early 80s arcade games.

The best part of an arcade title is that moment when everything clicks, when your brain fully grasps the game's mechanics and you begin to play at an intuitive and almost instinctual level. People who yearn for spiritual enlightenment liken it to 'zen', but I've always thought it was more akin to locking into a musical groove than a form of passive meditation. If jamming out on fundamental mechanics older than this reviewer sounds fun, then dive in daddy-o. It would seem contradictory to say that a game grounded in old-school tendencies is progressive, but it toys with the traditional structure of those coin-op machines as well. Oh, this is a game about a wizard that was turned into a worm and eats through planets, by the way.

I first played Super Mario World at the tender age of three, and when I did my mind was blown. Since my introduction to the genre, only three platformers have had a comparable impact on me. All three are indie titles. The first two, namely Spelunky and Braid, redefined what could be done within the platformer framework; they innovate to the point they seem like games from the future. The third title is VVVVVV, and it plays like a AAA title from the past. If this was pressed into a ROM back in the heyday of the NES it would be considered a seminal platformer, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Mega Man 2 and Super Mario Bros. Like the best of the 8-bit era, the game takes a single mechanic, builds upon it, and polishes it to perfection. VVVVVV is superbly designed and immensely fun, and has surprising length for an indie title. This is Terry's opus, a labor of love that put him in debt developing it. I know this is going to sound like bombastic hyperbole, but this is old-school design at the height of its craft; I sincerely hope you don't pass it up.

Malec2b, creator of Dadaists Gone Wild, has some other nifty games tucked away on his site. Today I'll point you to two of his shmups that are similar to Cactus' only by virtue of their uniqueness. Optimization is the common thread between these two small Game Maker games, so puzzle elements play a part in each. They aren't incredibly mind-blowing by any means, but they've got some cool ideas driving them. If you're a fan of either the shooter or puzzle genre you should take for a spin.

This here game's about old-time shootouts, and it's a hoot. Your protagonist (who I assume is the Man with No Name from those Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns) is tasked with shooting his way through a mess of enemies, and it ain't easy. They outnumber you, have spiffy AI, and are deadly shots to boot. Thankfully your cowboy has learned to tap into the Matrix and use bullet time, so that evens the odds a bit. Expect some exhilarating gunfights. Add in delightfully chunky graphics and some twangy MIDI guitar and you've got a game that has the cowboy-punk charm of the Meat Puppets. Yeehaw?

Update: Star Guard is a 2010 IGF finalist in the "excellence in design" category.

"Guide the spaceman through the castle and defeat the wizard" -- can't get any simpler than that. Do you need any more reason to blast your way through nine levels of old-school goodness? Didn't think so. Star Guard is a refined, minimalistic take on those 80s run-and-gun classics; like its predecessors, it focuses solely on fun and hits its mark (in the face with a laser beam, I might add.)

Tower of Heaven looks and sounds as if it could be a Gameboy title: flat gray (or actually) green-scale graphics and the kind of Midi music track you'd expect from such a title. What it actually is, however, is a little Gamemaker platformer notable for one thing: a highly polished, and frustratingly difficult set of level challenges. (At least frustratingly difficult for me, but as I've noticed before, I suck at this kind of game.)

In other words, there's nothing particular innovative about the setting or the mechanics, but the level design is both excellent and extremely tight.

It's been a while since I checked up on Orisinal, since Ferry Halim produces games much less frequently in recent years than he did earlier in the decade, when he virtually pioneered the idea that Flash games don't have to suck; indeed, Sunny Day Sky is the only thing he's produced since The Crossing, which we reviewed two years ago.

Super Mario XP is another retro-based mash-up -- this time remixing NES Mario and Castlevania -- akin to the Megaman Vs. games. Well, sort of. Actually, the game is a Super Mario "clone" that smartly attempts to be more than just a retread of Miyamoto's Eighties excursions. This is accomplished by implementing various aspects of the original Castlevania into the mix.

The game plays like any 'ole Mario game -- press shift to jump and ctrl to toss fireballs -- with a few deviations. The background elements and the soundtrack are ripped straight out of 'Vania, as are the health and weapon systems. Mario is perpetually full-sized and no longer halves his height when struck; mushrooms now recover bars of health. In addition to the fire flower, Mario can now pick up hammers and some vaguely familiar crosses, which can also be used as a "crash" attack (see Dracula X) with the z button. Finally, if you hold the up arrow you can obtain a higher jump, ala the American Super Mario Bros 2.

All of these additions, along with the omission of running, make the controls recognizable yet slightly odd. These changes are welcome, as they help augment what some people would affectionately dub as old school difficulty. Others might just call it fucking hard.

The level design is brilliant, but in the spirit of Castlevania it's pretty difficult; like the Japanese SMB 2 it throws multiple challenges at you simultaneously. Once you do get the pattern recognition down, however, it's a blast. I played through one segment in a free fall pitted against a Lakitu, dodging numerous spineys tossed at me. I grabbed a cross, tossed it, decimated him, and immediately jumped onto a ledge -- a half second and a couple pixels away from a game over. Another high note (and Castlevania trope) are the bosses; I won't spoil them but they're a lot more fun than running under Bowser and jumping on a hammer. While there is the odd collision bug and the difficulty may turn some people off, Super Mario XP is a fine addition to the fledgling Remix genre.

N.B.: For full-screen mode, edit the file "config.ini" and change the line "fullsc=0" to "fullsc=1".

Terry used to work as a "Risk Analyst" for an Irish bank, keeping in mind that Ireland has a nearly 1000% debt-to-GDP ratio. While there he applied his technical competence toward automating stuff that would have otherwise been tediously done by back-office sycophants. The logical next step is to go make indie games and have one be about a bull destroying capitalism, what could be more efficient?

Like Pedercini´s take on Communism in a game, Bullfist is contra-simulationist in its approach to ideology; in this case its communism is skin deep, and its satire of modern capitalism plays out more in the arcade-y viscera of bulls smashing into things. The ideological "thesis," if you want to take it that far, isn´t about the mathematical curve of a system but rather the chemical link of rush and crush. Its capitalism´s animal spirits wrapped as a gift to destroy capitalism. It´s also got really solid mechanics, and as we know, the bull is only indirectly responsible.

You charge along, crushing monocled, Age of Innocence looking gentry, picking up fellow bulls, then smashing Model-Ts. Once you get a full sextet you can smash Joe´s Diner type establishments like a leveraged short-seller of commercial real estate, with horns! This is the bull rush that culminates the dance with capitalistic incentives gone coked, and your score may experience exponential gains, provided that you don´t mis-time the end of the rush and crash.