This is the vault for gaming design, titles released in the past that are still relevant today for design or plot choices.
During the 80s and most of the 90s, console games were designed to appeal to a young audience, while home/personal computer titles were – usually – meant for an older public. Still, as most gamers know, this doesn’t imply in the slightest that console titles were simpler or, god forbid, kid-friendly. Ninja Gaiden or Contra…
Why can’t bicycles work like helicopters? The Commodore 64 hidden gem Mancopter does not really provide us a straight answer but, there are plenty of good reasons. But the question still stands, wouldn’t it be nice to fly around in a comfy helibike controlled by the magical power of our own quadriceps? Also, wouldn’t it be…
In this second, and final, part of the Buck Rogers retrospective, we will take a look at the much less lauded continuation of the first game, Matrix Cubed, and then, finally, I will explain the reasons why I feel both games are still relevant all these years later. Prepare for one last launch. Matrix Cubed,…
Everyone happens to get a great idea every once in a while. Those brilliant concepts that almost approach pure genius, at least until they are actually discussed, some time passes and everyone suddenly realizes exactly just how stupid and/or insane the concept actually was and… phew! Aren’t we all glad that no one bothered to…
There is one single burning question which has plagued the industry, ever since the release and subsequent popularity of Doom and Mortal Kombat: are violent videogames to blame for society’s inherent evil? Is Harvester – the most shocking FMV adventure game, for real? Thinking about it a couple of seconds, the answer should be obvious:…
What do Zombies ate My Neighbors and Herc’s Adventures have in common? Well, not very much one would say. Zeus and Zombies do share the letter Z, but one is the Greek god of everything, the other is a smelly undead being usually hungry for meat/brains. Still Lucasarts would beg to differ, especially Mike Ebert…
Samurai Warrior: The Battles of Usagi Yojimbo, created by Stan Sakai as an homage to japanese culture and cinema, it sits among the cult comic books of the 80s. Still being published today, the episodic comics revolve around the adventures of an antromoporphic samurai rabbit, with a mature and serious approach to japanese folk legends…
Pac-man 2: The New Adventures makes it pretty clear from the start that it is a sequel. But how does on go about making a sequel to one of the most famous arcade maze games ever? Also, weren’t there already several sequels to the original game? Well… apparently not as such. Ms. Pac-man was considered…
Since I’ve recently written at length about Will Wright’s crazy helicopter sim that managed to save Maxis from bankruptcy (at least for a while), I’d say it makes sense to take a look at Raid on Bungeling Bay, not only his first game but another one of the designer’s helicopter titles. Why all these games…
While the overall narrative on the importance of the release of SimCity 2000 might be a bit less impactful nowadays, it was a gamechanger, perhaps even more so than the original title, SimCopter? Well definitely less so. After the resounding success of its city builder, Maxis seemed to be struggling to find a market for…