Created by Stan Sakai as an homage to japanese culture and cinema, Usagi Yojimbo 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 and classic Kurosawa movies. Because of…
Since I’ve recently talked about Will Wright’s crazy helicopter sim that managed to save Maxis from bankruptcy, I’d say it makes sense to take a look at another of his helicopter titles. Apparently, Will took a trip on an helicopter when he was a kid and had been totally fascinated with them since. Raid on…
Combining elements from different genres is – arguably – the basis for many modern indie gaming titles, especially ones with a message that consistently accompanies the gameplay. In the early eighties, there was no strict definition of genre, except for broad strokes like “arcade” or “adventure”. Innovation heavily relied on the game designer’s tastes and…
As a kid I hated Japanese RPGs with a passion. I remember saying to myself over and over how much I couldn’t stand the genre and reinforcing my intention of never playing a Final Fantasy title or anything remotely close to it. This was mainly because of my prejudice and of my upbringing with Western…
How many Pac-man inspired titles exist in the world? Well, one possible answer would be: as many Space Invaders and Arkanoid ones. These arcade classics were among the basic steps for anyone wanting to program an arcade-like title: (deceptively) easy to program and a surefire hit with gamers who, back then, didn’t really have a…
Remember those miserable times when, as a small child, one had to suffer long school hours without nary a videogame in sight to pass the time? What better friend in misery than the thought of a computer/console waiting at home, ready to be fired up with that awesome looking game you bought yesterday and barely…
While playing and remembering various movie tie-ins products, there was one question I had no answer to: how did a publisher decide which movie to license to a game developer? Despite still not having a clear answer, for the sake of this article, though, my guess would be: box office success with teen and pre-teen…
Trolls and Tribulations is one of the earliest games I remember being fascinated by. In my early days as a “gaming journalist”, in elementary school, the teacher gave us a free essay theme so I decided to do a full write-up about the game, my (pirated) copy was called “Mario e i mostri” (Mario and…
While writing the article for Rags to Riches and CHANGE, I contacted Delve Interactive and, a few weeks later, here I am having a chat with Danny Hayes, game designer. I was curious to ask him what was the inspiration – both personal and from a game design standpoint – for CHANGE, everything that happened…
Released in 1985 and designed by Ian Gray (“don’t you forget it” he reminds us in a secret message in the code), Fiona Rides Out is the first horror game I remember being literally scared by. I was a kid always more afraid of sounds rather than images, so, when the two combined, my poor…