#retronauts
Hailing from the futuristic year 2000 on PS2, The Bouncer falls a little outside this blog’s usual range, but it was designed by Seichi Ishii, who also designed or directed on Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter, Tekken, Tobal, and Ehrgeiz, so I”m making an exception as it ties into *both* the Sega Arcade and Square Fighter episodes of Retronauts.
Unfortunately it didn’t fare quite as well as some of those other titles. A very early PS2 title, it feels kind of like playing a shiny tech demo, with lots of bells and whistles (high-end rendered video for the time, Dobly surround sound, multi-language voice acting, analog button support, and so on) but kind of mediocre game-play. The “cinematic experience” also translates to some awkward camera angles. And to top it off, you have to play through the plot multiple times to reveal everything, with enemies getting harder each time, and an RPG-light progression system where it’s all too possible to screw up your builds with poor point-distribution choices.
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Since tumblr’s search doesn’t always play nice for posts with external links, here’s a separate one with a handy link for the Retronauts podcast episode that goes with Bushido Blade:
https://retronauts.com/article/735/retronauts-micro-78-explores-squares-fightin-history
Hey, sorry for the long break (holidays + pneumonia, whee), but we’re back with a Retronauts tie-in: Bushido Blade! Jeremy and I just spent a while talking about Square’s 1990s fighting games, and this is a big one, known for its unique mechanics.
Developed by LightWeight under director Tetsuo Mizuno and released on PlayStation in 1997, Bushido Blade is a stripped-down weapons-based fighting game based on precise maneuvers and realistic damage. With no life bars, meters, or any interface to speak of, players go for one-hit kills or disabling an opponents limbs with clean hits.
I included a few shots of the manual highlighting the unique mechanics - controls change if you lose use of a leg or an arm, stances play an important roll, and you can also fight dirty by trying to blind an opponent with dirt. Most combos are tied to weapons, and you can mix and match as you please, but each character has a few special moves with weapons they favor.
In story mode, each character escapes through a castle fighting their former fellow assassins and then up to five bosses in a row. One of two final secret bosses is seen only if you make it through with zero damage, which is quite a feat. The stage layout is also really cool, featuring connected regions of one large location, and because battle is free-roaming the terrain comes into play with hills, water, and trees getting in your way.
All in all, a really addictive and intriguing variation on the fighting genre - and one we’d love to see an update of today.
(Sadly I don’t have an Ehrgeiz or Tobal artifacts to share, as I only played other people’s copies of those games, but I do have one more bit of Square fighting history which I’ll put up soon…)
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Cyan’s earlier effort, The Manhole, was also a good time, if more of an exploration than a game. Also shows its origins more clearly, as it requires HyperCard to play.
Oh my, there’s a tiny boat in my teacup!
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And here’s the box for Myst. Editor’s Choice best game of ‘93! Requires a fancy new CD-ROM drive, 256 colors, and 4MB of RAM. “Stunning 3D photo-realistic graphics”! Well, closer than anything else we had at the time, anyway.
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HyperCard! Here’s the box for version 2.2, which included the ability to build stand-alone apps as well as more scripting and multimedia options. Also my stack of HyperCard manuals and books, including the definitive Handbook from Danny Goodman.
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The Retronauts episode on HyperCard and Myst just went up, so I’m speeding up my usual posting schedule to push out some relevant artifacts over the next day or two. To start, here’s my Journal of Myst, from the days before GameFAQs when you really had to take your own notes. Spoiler warning for a 24-year-old game, I guess!
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What if you… listened to Retronauts this week ⊟
I don’t need to tell you this, since the Venn diagram of Tiny readers and Retronauts listeners is probably one tiny Tiny circle inside another much larger circle, but what’s the point of having a website if I can’t use it to brag on my co-editor when he kills it on a podcast?
Sure,the latest Retronauts episode tackles the relatively morose topic of things to get on Wii U and 3DS eShops before they die, but it’s a really delightful listen, as Eric, Jeremy Parish, and Chris Kohler drop important recommendations and personal memories of these dying consoles.
If you like it, be sure to let Jeremy know you did, and perhaps that you’d like to hear more from us on the podcast!
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Another cover for the latest Patreon-exclusive episode of the Retronauts podcast
TO THE DONUT PLAINS!
Super Mario World hitting 30 this year. That’s a lot to take in.
Another piece for the Retronauts podcast, available through their Patreon.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/46958744
You can’t do Link to the Past justice and NOT include Pink-haired Link
You can also follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shaankhanart/
Glad to do a Crash Bandicoot commission for Retronauts! Listen to their 350th episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/45676166
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Samurai Showdown!
Commission for the Retronauts podcast - check out their Patreon @ https://www.patreon.com/retronauts
Please follow my Instagram: @shaankhanart
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WEIRD CONTROLLERS PT 2
Commission for the Retronauts podcast - check out their Patreon @ https://www.patreon.com/retronauts
Please follow my Instagram: @shaankhanart
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WEIRD CONTROLLERS
Commission for the Retronauts podcast - check out their Patreon @ https://www.patreon.com/retronauts
Please follow my Instagram: @shaankhanart
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