(reviewed Japanese version: Boogie Woogie Bowling)
It's bowling alright.

I'm a sucker for video game bowling because there's an element of randomness to it sure, but there is skill involved in knowing how to hook the ball, where to position the ball, and to know the weight of the ball you'll need. Now this is by no means the best bowling video game I've ever played, but it's still really fun for a rather plain bowling game. The characters are charming (I always play as the Xenomorph) and the music is decent. Still, the fact that you're stuck with the ball you choose at the beginning, and rather bland graphics on the Genesis by 1993 standards don't put this in the league of Wii Sports or Yakuza 0 for bowling games.

When I first played this game when it originally came out on the Wii, I echoed the sentiments of many reviewers on here that the levels were bogged down with gimmicks and uninspired in level design. But I think I’ve softened up over the years because I am having a lot of fun playing the game again and trying to get all the collectibles, the best rank, etc. I can understand why it wouldn’t be someone’s cup of tea because it totally wasn’t mine at one point. I am personally happy that the shorter levels and well-implemented gimmicks make for a fun time for myself upon these days.

An RPG that was 20 years ahead of its time, and yet, clearly influential. This game is a portrait of the surreal; while not the first game with surrealist elements by any stretch of the imagination, it really uses its abstract nature to set itself apart from other RPGs of the time and since. It’s clear that the main goal of this game is to set an emotional connection with the player, and that it does in spades. However, I feel that also took away focus in tightening up the gameplay — grinding, cryptic strategy, and a clumsy item system are some gripes I have personally, but they’re also a general fault of the JRPG system as a whole, so I can’t dock major points for that. In the end, I enjoyed the experience, and it really is unlike anything else of its time. I look forward to playing Mother 3.

There’s only like three people on Backloggd that own a Vectrex?! Ya don’t say!

I bet the people at GCE in 1982 were asking themselves “how are we gonna get that mega hit Asteroids on our actual vector video game system?” Atari had the rights of course, it was their game, and they were untouchable at that point in time. Well, the devs at GCE answered with Mine Storm.

So what differentiates this from Asteroids is that you’re blowing up mines that some jerk in a spaceship leaves behind. The mines that are planted don’t all expand to full size immediately, so you can’t just stay in the center of the screen like you can in Asteroids. Occasionally, the jerk that planted the bombs will fly out in his ship and you can blow it up.

Given how expensive the Vectrex was at the time, I could see this being the only game the couple thousand people that actually had the console owned, as it was built into the unit. And it’s a pretty good one, especially if you like Asteroids.

This was an admirable attempt by GCE to make a pseudo 3D space ship shooter. This is accomplished with a halfpipe that is rendered as a wire frame. Your ship moves along the half pipe and the camera (Yes, you are reading that right, a CAMERA IN A 1983 GAME) changes angles to give the illusion of depth, and with how sharp the vector lines look, it works quite well.

Unfortunately, it’s not the most exciting gameplay wise. I’m rather confused by the game’s controls, since you can move forward and back within the halfpipe, but this also controls the throttle of your ship. I wish this had been relegated to one of the four face buttons. Oh well, you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs, and I’m sure GCE had much better titles afterwards!

It seemed in the US that home computer games of the time were almost completely devoid of the humor that came with British microcomputer titles. Sure, consoles and arcade games had plenty of humor, and there was even the OCCASIONAL exception to the rule, but home computers of the US usually sported either arcade ports or games that took themselves too seriously, usually called “Star ______.”

These days in the homebrew scene there’s humor and personality for years, yet in the early 80s, Atari and Commodore yearned for businesses to take their machines seriously, and not JUST as mere game systems.

So imagine my surprise playing Alley Cat on the Atari 800XL. This is a game I was recommended from YouTube by several Top 10 videos for the 8 bit line. New to the Atari line, I was trying to avoid games I had already played on the C64, and this one is only on Atari and DOS, so it fit the bill purrfectly.

After playing it for a good while, I have to say, this game is charming as hell. The game play is incredibly complex for the time, featuring multiple game sections, each of which are super fun to play and fit the cat theme of the game. The graphics and sounds are also superb, on-par with the C64 to be sure. The cherry on top is this was released in major stores by an American developer! If you had told me this was a port of a ZX Spectrum or Amstrad CPC game, I would have believe it, because this reminds me of a British micro game through and through.