Author: Pedz

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Retro Monday: Turbo Out Run

First off, I’ll let you know that I am bad at racing games, ask those who’s seen me on a Retro Monday where I’ve had a racing game, or the folk I’ve played Driveclub and Mario Kart with.

Anyway, Turbo Out Run is the Sequel to Out Run, it was originally an arcade game where you had a steering wheel and a big booth to sit in. I have played the Mega Drive conversion, which obviously doesn’t have the same feel as sitting down and taking the wheel. I will say that the game is still really enjoyable, if – at least for me – a little difficult. I only managed to get to the 3rd stage and nearly to the 4th, but it was hard going. You need to know when to speed up, slow down, use your turbo boost at the right times, and using the turbo for me was tricky. Most of the time I’d use it, I’d come to corners which were difficult to take. I assume that finishing a race without using turbo must be hard if not impossible to do and using it optimally is no easy feat.

The game is your typical arcade racer, and follows the Out Run style, where you get in your Ferrari and drive to the checkpoints as fast as you can, the visuals are nice, though not as nice as their Arcade counterpart which has a lot more on screen also, and the soundtrack is pretty great. All in all, you’ve got a neat and tidy arcade racer that’s probably a bit underrated compared to it’s older brother.

Verdict: Recommend.

 

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Retro Monday: Kickle Cubicle

This game has come up several times on some peoples lists to get played, but until this week hasn’t managed to get the votes it’s needed to actually win.

It’s yet another game I haven’t played, which is now becoming a common theme.

Kickle Cubicle is a puzzle game, so put it simply you control a boy named Kickle , and you have to turn enemies into ice cubes and hit them into water which create ice paths to the Dream Bags which in turn finishes the level.

It all sounds pretty simple and the earlier levels are, but the do ramp up in difficulty and while I didn’t get to the end of the game to see the meatier puzzles I did get about half way through. I can safely say that it’s an interesting take on the puzzle genre. You can only turn certain enemies into blocks that can be used to create ice paths, others can be frozen, but defrost after a while, others can be frozen, then some smash and more. All the while each enemies you defeat respawns, so you have to constantly keep an eye out and what’s respawning and what’s already on the ice field. You also have bosses at the end of each set of puzzle stages, which is simple to beat, just avoid the attacks and hit the items back at them.

Visually the game is really nice, especially considering it is mainly ice. the sprites are really well done, are vibrant and cheerful. The Music in the game is catchy and again cheerful.

 

Overall the game is really good, and it was worth the wait to play, I can safely say that it’s one of the best puzzlers I have played.

Verdict: Highly Recommend

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Retro Monday – Greendog: The Beached Surfer Dude!

Greendog: The Beached Surfer Dude is another game I haven’t played before, in fact, I don’t think I’ve heard of it.

The game seems to centre around a guy called Greendog and he’s be cursed due to a magic amulet and he can’t go surfing anymore, that is unless he collects all the shards of some ancient artifact he and then he’ll be free from his curse.

The gameplay’s OK, the game feels somewhat clunky and a little sluggish, the enemies are a pain, especially things like fish which are difficult to hit with Greendogs attack, which is what I believe to be a Frisbee. There’s your standard platforming sections and then you get to some flying sections after each artifact peace is collected. These are reminiscent of the gyrocopter levels from Alex Kidd in Miracle World, albeit nowhere near as enjoyable and they auto-scroll and for me where a pain as I couldn’t get used to the controls, as I thought that you had to tap the B button to fly about, only later did I realise that you can just hold B and then use the D-Pad to control where you fly which makes the pretty boring flying sections a little more bearable.

Visually the game is decent, the backgrounds and sprites are fine for the most part, but Greendog himself doesn’t seem to have a face and it’s hard to tell if the big lump on his head is a hat or hair (It’s hair going by the box art.)

Overall the game is plain average and there;’s not much else I can pinpoint as pro’s and cons, I say if you feel like playing an average platformer to then show you just how good the better ones are then this is a game that would suit that desire.

Verdict: Neutral.