Waltorious Writes About Games – Game-related ramblings.

Scratching That Itch: Zone Of Lacryma

On May 11, 2026

This is the two hundred thirty-seventh 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 v. 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 thirty-seventh random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is fighting back against fascism… in space! It’s Zone of Lacryma, by oop.hok, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

A story driven vertical shmup.

They’re not kidding about the “story driven” part.

Backlog Roulette: AntharioN

By Waltorious

On April 19, 2026

In Uncategorized

This is Backlog Roulette, a series in which I randomly pick an unplayed game from my backlog and play it. As always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

When presented with the disturbingly organized spreadsheet of games that I own, the digital dice selected Antharion (bizarrely stylized “AntharioN”, but I won’t keep that up), by Orphic Software. A quick search through old emails revealed that I actually backed it on Kickstarter back in 2012 — a time when this brand of isometric, turn-based role-playing game was rare — but the campaign failed to reach its funding goal. Orphic Software immediately launched a new Kickstarter campaign to fund development, but I didn’t pledge to that one. I did, however, purchase the finished game in 2017. That’s a couple of years after its 2015 release, so I’m guessing I saw it on sale. Since then, I’ve eyed it in my spreadsheet on several occasions, but always ended up picking something else to play. Now that the dice have selected it, I decided to finally give it a go.

Scratching That Itch: Dreaming The Devil

By Waltorious

On March 29, 2026

In Uncategorized

This is the two hundred thirty-sixth 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 thirty-sixth random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality has accused us of terrible things. It’s Dreaming the Devil, by dymphna, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

Someone must be to blame.

I will leave a friendly reminder here that randomness not only exists, but is an intrinsic aspect of the physics that govern our universe. Sometimes, no one is to blame. Dreaming the Devil offers an unfriendly reminder that no one wants to believe that.

Console History: Ganbare Goemon! Karakuri Douchuu (Go For It, Goemon! Karakuri Journey)

By Waltorious

On March 22, 2026

In Uncategorized

This is Console History, a special sub-series of my more general History Lessons series, covering console role-playing games, action role-playing games, Metroidvanias, and action-adventure games in nominally chronological order starting in the late 1980s. The chronology is garbled in the beginning as the scope of the series expanded, but it gets more organized later on. As always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

We are in the midst of the Great Console History Reorganization, as I go back to fill in games I missed in the haphazard early days of the series. If I’d had my timeline in order, the earliest game would have been The Legend of Zelda, followed by our first (and most recent) Reorganization post, The Mysterious Murasame Castle. Next would have been Dragon Quest, followed by Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord. Then we would arrive at our current entry, Ganbare Goemon! Karakuri Douchuu, which was released by Konami on July 30, 1986 for Nintendo’s Famicom. It was later ported to the MSX2 home computer system, and much later to the Game Boy Advance and several of Nintendo’s virtual console marketplaces, but it was never localized outside of Japan. Fortunately, there’s a fan translation for the Famicom version from Spinner 8 (who also provided a translation for The Mysterious Murasame Castle), Xeur, and Dirk Grundy that let me play it in English. I’m glad I got the chance, because Ganbare Goemon! Karakuri Douchuu (the title is a reference to mechanized puppets from 17th-19th century Japan, I think?) combines disparate design elements into an unusual whole. It also spawned a larger series that ran for nearly 20 years, and a few titles even came to the West under the name Mystical Ninja.

Scratching That Itch: Flashover MegaSector

By Waltorious

On March 16, 2026

In Uncategorized

This is the two hundred thirty-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. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Our two hundred thirty-fifth random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is yearning for the olden days of Flash games. It’s Flashover MegaSector, by Happy Frog Games (creators of Scratching That Itch entry #116, Infiniboss), and its tagline in the bundle reads:

Fast-paced bullet hell shoot ’em up where stages change based on objective…

Sometimes you gotta change the stage.

Scratching That Itch: The Search

By Waltorious

On March 8, 2026

In Uncategorized

This is the two hundred thirty-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 thirty-fourth random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is explaining its own symbolism to us. It’s The Search, by Jason Godbey, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

A story-driven puzzle-adventure set in a mysterious world where art comes…

A quick check of the itch.io page reveals that this is supposed to end with “where art comes to life!”

Scratching That Itch: Bold Blade

By Waltorious

On February 22, 2026

In Uncategorized

This is the two hundred thirty-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. 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 thirty-third random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is wielding an absurdly huge sword. It’s Bold Blade, by Ultra Runaway Games (who are perhaps better known as the developers of Paper Sorcerer), and its tagline in the bundle reads:

the bitesize pixel art action RPG where your sword keeps getting bigger!

Pick a bigger weapon.

Scratching That Itch: Kissing Capes

By Waltorious

On February 16, 2026

In Uncategorized

This is the two hundred thirty-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 thirty-second random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is distracted by our cape-toting, costumed visage. It’s Kissing Capes, by DMLSP, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

Fight with your friends and fall in love with your rivals in a city despoiled by …

…hmm? Despoiled by what, you ask? Sorry, I was distracted by that fetching supervillain over there, what were we talking about?

Console History: The Mysterious Murasame Castle

By Waltorious

On February 11, 2026

In Uncategorized

This is Console History, a special sub-series of my more general History Lessons series, covering console role-playing games, action role-playing games, Metroidvanias, and action-adventure games in nominally chronological order starting in the late 1980s. The chronology is garbled in the beginning as the scope of the series expanded, but it gets more organized later on. As always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Console History has just been reorganized. In an effort to bring the haphazard early entries — assembled alongside a growing scope for the series — into a better semblance of chronology, I’ve looked through the entire catalogs of early consoles like the Famicom/NES and PC Engine/Turbografx-16 to make sure I caught all the games I might want to include. That means we’re embarking on what should hopefully be the last detour from the nominal timeline, to fill in a few more early games that I missed the first time.

For this entry we’re going almost all the way back to the beginning. The earliest game I’ve covered in this series is The Legend of Zelda, which released on February 21, 1986 in Japan as a launch title for the Famicom Disk System add-on to Nintendo’s Famicom. Less than two months later, on April 14, 1986, The Mysterious Murasame Castle released in Japan, also for the Famicom Disk System. Unlike Zelda, it wasn’t localized outside of Japan until decades later.

Scratching That Itch: SilverQuest Gaiden

By Waltorious

On February 6, 2026

In Uncategorized

This is the two hundred thirty-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 thirty-first random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality has failed to appear. It’s SilverQuest Gaiden, by Wolfgame, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

A 1bit dungeon crawler.

Unfortunately, it seems it is now a zero-bit dungeon crawler, as I get the above error image when I try to download it. Its itch.io page no longer exists.