Classic Gamer

The use of walkthroughs can sometimes be a subject of debate. Doesn’t it make you a cheat if you rely on game cheats? Well, yes but I have a defense for my crimes.

Classic RPG games mercilessly punish you if you miss any detail. A perfect example of this is forgetting to talk to characters and neglecting to have them join you. A similar mistake made my saved game in Breath of Fire II a dud. Start over, chump.

I experienced this pain yet again today. I forgot to venture up the stairs and talk to Arthur in Chapter 2 of Shining Force. I managed to get along without him for a battle but it really bothered me since his fighting would undoubtedly come in handy later and might even make the difference between finishing off a stubborn boss and tasting the soil. The saddest part of this is I was using (an awesome) walkthrough by RPGClassics.com for some of the tough battles. Right when I thought I was owning the game I looked through the text and released I neglected to get a new party member and have no way of going back for him.

EPIC FAIL.

Comments(0)

Yes, Jaguar basically sucked but it’s so damn fun to get nostalgic. Back in the day its lackluster 3D titles almost seemed cool. Was this system really 64 bit? It’s hard to tell from the games in this commercial mash up.

The titles highlighted include:
Cybermorph
Kasumi Ninja
Doom
Alien Vs Predator

Comments(0)

The GX4000 was Amstrad’s short-lived attempt to enter the video game market. The CPC-based system was released in 1990. The Amstrad GX4000 was, effectively, a CPC+ machine without the keyboard, tape or disc drive (actually a modified CPC6128+ computer). This allowed The GX4000 to be compatible with a majority of CPC+ computer line software. Initial reviews were favorable - the console had impressive enhanced graphics and sound, a huge colour palette of 4096 (more than the 16 bit Sega Mega Drive), hardware sprites and hardware scrolling. It retailed for £99 and came bundled with Burnin’ Rubber. GX4000 game cartridges could also be used by the new 464+ and 6128+ computers released at the same time.

One major reason the system bombed was due to the fact that the GX4000 was powered by already dated 8-bit technology and was almost immediately superseded by the 16 bit Sega Mega Drive (released in November 1990 in Europe), and eventually SNES. There were very few games ready at launch, with some titles being released months late or canceled. To make matters worse, several GX4000 games were simply CPC ports from previous years re-released onto a cartridge. Gamers were not prepared to pay £25 for a cartridge game that they could buy for £3.99 on cassette. Within a few weeks of the initial launch, they were trying to unload the system at a discounted price.

At least one GX4000 reviewer claimed that this machine was “Probably the most unsuccessful console of all time”. Well, at least it’s ultra rare. That adds some cool factor I suppose.

Comments(0)