Waltorious Writes About Games – Game-related ramblings.

Other History Lessons posts can be found here. If you’re looking specifically for console games, those are here. As always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Our detour continues. If I’d managed to be chronological, then the latest post in this series would have been the one about Phantasy Star II. But I found a few games that I missed, so I went back to play them: first Glory of Heracles: The Labors of the Divine Hero, followed by Bionic Commando. Now, we’ve arrived at what was supposed to be the last game of the detour. I say “supposed to” because I already found another game I missed… but more on that later. For now, we’re talking about Valkyrie no Densetsu, which translates to The Legend of Valkyrie. Developed and published by Namco, Valkyrie no Densetsu first appeared in arcades in March 1989, placing it between Clash at Demonhead and Out Live in our timeline. A port for the PC Engine appeared in August 1990, which is the version I played. Both versions were limited to the Japanese market, however, so I used a fan translation from shawnji (AKA Shawn Cox) and cabbage to play.

Scratching That Itch: Visual Out

By Waltorious

On September 24, 2025

In Uncategorized

This is the two hundred twenty-fifth entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. This particular entry is also part of the Keeping Score series about games and their soundtracks. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Our two hundred twenty-fifth random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality has manifested from some sort of operating system glitch. It’s Visual Out, by madameberry (AKA Madame Berry Games), and its tagline in the bundle reads:

Broken. Abandoned. Replaced.

This one is all about dusty digital entities.

Scratching That Itch: Hi-Score Boi

By Waltorious

On September 1, 2025

In Uncategorized

This is the two hundred twenty-fourth entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. This particular entry is also part of the Keeping Score series about games and their soundtracks. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Our two hundred twenty-fourth random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is sat on the couch, controller in hand, ready to get that high score. It’s Hi-SCore Boi, by 88domo, and it’s messing up my intro formatting by not having a tagline in the bundle at all. Touché, 88domo.

History Lessons: Bionic Commando

By Waltorious

On August 29, 2025

In Uncategorized

Other History Lessons posts can be found here. If you’re looking specifically for console games, those are here. As always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

I’m in the midst of another detour from my nominal timeline for this series. Having reached the first truly 16-bit console role-playing game, Phantasy Star II, in March 1989, I then went all the way back to June 1987 for Glory of Heracles: The Labors of the Divine Hero. I’d originally skipped that because I thought it was a simple Dragon Quest clone, but in fact it has a bunch of interesting ideas of its own. Now, I’m jumping forward to July 20, 1988, when Capcom released Bionic Commando in Japan for Nintendo’s Famicom system (although I played the US port for the rebranded NES, which released in December of the same year). That puts it between Blaster Master and Exile in our timeline. Like Glory of Heracles, I’d originally skipped over Bionic Commando, in this case because I thought it was a pure action game and thus outside the scope of this series. Later, I learned that it had a lot of design ideas that would influence the nascent Metroidvania genre, which puts it in scope after all. Bionic Commando also has another, far more notable claim to fame: it is the first game with a grappling hook as a central mechanic.

Scratching That Itch: Into The Sun

By Waltorious

On August 23, 2025

In Uncategorized

This is the two hundred twenty-third entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Our two hundred twenty-third random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is inviting us to throw some awful people into the sun. It’s Into The Sun, by Jess Go, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

A game and pamphlet about where trash people can go.

They can go into the sun. Just making sure that’s clear.

Scratching That Itch: Shift

By Waltorious

On August 21, 2025

In Uncategorized

This is the two hundred twenty-second entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Our two hundred twenty-second random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality has put our king into check, and then pushed a bunch of its chips into the pot. It’s Shift, by Jack Schlesinger, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

The game of constantly changing strategy where you have to check to bet!

Check yourself before you bet yourself.

History Lessons: Glory Of Heracles: The Labors Of The Divine Hero

By Waltorious

On August 13, 2025

In Uncategorized

Other History Lessons posts can be found here. If you’re looking specifically for console games, those are here. As always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

It’s tradition, at this point. Whenever I get my timeline sorted out for this series, and start actually working through things chronologically — as I recently did with Out Live and Phantasy Star II — I always find some other games I missed and end up going back to play them. I’m tempted to tell you that this detour will the the last one, but that’s what I think every time. Hopefully it will at least be brief, and then we can head back to 1989.

For now, though, we’re going way back to June 1987, for the Japan-only game Glory of Heracles: The Labors of the Divine Hero by Data East, for Nintendo’s Famicom. That places it a few weeks after Zillion and about a week before Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished in our timeline. I’d originally skipped over Glory of Heracles because I’d heard it was basically just a Dragon Quest clone (indeed, the first two Dragon Quest games, as well as Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord, are the only proper Japanese-style role-playing games to precede it), but then I read that the later entries in the Glory of Heracles series are good, so I decided to play it after all, using an English translation from DvD Translations (who also did the translation for Cleopatra no Mahou). It turns out it has a lot of interesting ideas of its own.

Scratching That Itch: Space Combat Engine

By Waltorious

On August 6, 2025

In Uncategorized

This is the two hundred twenty-first entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Our two hundred twenty-first random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is challenging us to combat… in space. It’s Space Combat Engine, by Vincent, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

Space Combat Engine for GMS 2

That “GMS 2” stands for Game Maker Studio 2, a software package for making one’s own games. I don’t own any version of Game Maker, so this one will probably be a short post.

Scratching That Itch: Glitter Hearts

By Waltorious

On August 4, 2025

In Uncategorized

This is the two hundred twentieth entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Our two hundred twentieth random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is drafting us into a superhero team to combat evil. It’s Glitter Hearts, by Greg L (AKA Greg Leatherman), and its tagline in the bundle reads:

A magical transforming heroes RPG.

This is a concise and highly accurate tagline.

Scratching That Itch: Dear Mariko

By Waltorious

On July 14, 2025

In Uncategorized

This is the two hundred nineteenth entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Our two hundred nineteenth random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality has written us a letter. It’s Dear Mariko, by Coren Baili, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

A girl comes home to find a letter.

This is, indeed, what happens.