Game-related ramblings.

Month: December 2021

Scratching That Itch: Dual Pong

This is the one hundred 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.

Another random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality has bounced into view. It’s Dual Pong, by randomness_dj_p (AKA Paul M. Fulllard), and it’s messing with my intro formatting by not having a tagline in the bundle. But I bet that if it did, it would say something about Pong.

Scratching That Itch: HellStar Squadron

This is the one hundred 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.

We’re heading to space with the next random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. It’s HellStar Squadron, by Cosmic Crystal Games, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

Embark on an adventure through space with the ferocious HELLSTAR SQU…

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the truncated word there is probably “squadron”.

Scratching That Itch – True Believer

This is the one hundredth 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.

The random number generators have picked a selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality that involves a lot of random numbers. It’s True Believer, by Ben “Bee” Scerri, Red World Press, and it’s messing up my intro formatting by not having a tagline in the bundle at all. Touché, Red World Press, touché.

Scratching That Itch: EXTREME MEATPUNKS FOREVER

This is the ninety-ninth 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 an honorary member of the Keeping Score series, about games and their soundtracks. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

It’s time to get extreme with our next random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The random numbers have picked EXTREME MEATPUNKS FOREVER, by Heather Flowers. Its tagline in the bundle reads:

Gay disaster mech pilots killing fascists

It was bound to happen eventually. Extreme Meatpunks Forever (I cannot bring myself to continue using all caps for its name, even though it earns them) is one of the better known games in the bundle, and one which I personally have been meaning to check out for a while, having read a lot of good things. From those, I learned that not only is it about gay disaster mech pilots killing fascists, but also those mechs are made out of meat.

History Lessons: Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link

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.

When I wrote about the original Legend of Zelda, I discussed how it was inspired by earlier Japanese action role-playing games like Xanadu or Hydlide, but innovated by removing most of the classic role-playing mechanics such as experience points and leveling. But the sequel, which drops the “legend of” and opts simply for Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, is almost entirely different. This was on purpose. Other than the project lead and writer, the development team was entirely new, and the action gameplay shifted from the original’s top-down viewpoint to side-scrolling platforming. There’s still some top-down exploration in the form of a world map, similar to those in the Dragon Quest games, but the bulk of the game is played in the side-on view.

I remember this shift somewhat confounded my group of friends when we played it as kids, and the game never captured our imagination as strongly as the original did. One thing that I didn’t remember, however, is that Zelda II brings back some of the role-playing mechanics that its predecessor had excised. Titular protagonist Link earns experience points from defeating enemies, and upon accumulating enough can level up his attack, magic power, and defense. The series famous for establishing its own action-adventure genre, distinct from action role-playing games, had become an action role-playing game once more.

Scratching That Itch: Space Duet

This is the ninety-eighth 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.

We’re going to space for our next random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. It’s Space Duet, by Matthew Alan Estock, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

Duel in space with friends

But what if you don’t have any friends? No worries, there’s also an arcade mode that lets players duel against AI ships, which meant I was actually able to play this one!

Scratching That Itch: Planet Diver

This is the ninety-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 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 an honorary member of the Keeping Score series, about games and their soundtracks. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Another random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is diving in! This time, it’s Planet Diver, by Fabraz. Its tagline in the bundle reads:

Planet Diver is about an adventurous daredevil tackling her newest obsessio…

I’m pretty sure that was supposed to say “obsession”, which means I must ask, Fabraz: who do you want me to be, to make you dive with me?

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