SimCity 2000 is the most well known entry in Maxis’ SimCity franchise. It expanded upon the original game greatly, adding new types of facilities. Would-be mayors can add everything from zoos, to prisons, to high schools. The game also added an underground plumbing system, a more complex tax system, and since the map was isometric (as opposed to top-down), there was also land elevation. You can play through several scenarios, many of which based off of real-world situations such as the economic depression in 1970s Flint Michigan. Even today, with more advanced city simulators being released, SimCity remains the gold standard in city building. If you have yet to play this classic, Gog.com has it on sale for $5.99.

I’ll never forget when my brother and I unwrapped our Playstation that Christmas morning 15 years ago. Amongst the cables and controllers was a disc featuring previews of several games. PLAYABLE previews of several games. This was important as all three of the games we got were fighting games (Tekken 2, Mortal Kombat Trilogy, and Street Fighter Alpha 2) and it being the holiday, it would be a while before we would increase our collection. That was okay, because the demo disc we got held wonders beyond imagination. Playable demos of King of Fighters 95 and ESPN Extreme Games, and videos of Jet Moto and Twisted Metal 2 were among the discs’ many hidden goodies. There were also several hidden codes, and you could even listen to some tracks by putting the CD in your player. Another memorable disc came with an Official Playstation Magazine issue that I picked up the summer after my freshman year in college. It contained Threads of Fate, Deception 3, and X-men Mutant Academy. I ended up buying most of the games featured on the disc. Since the early days of disc-based gaming, a demo disc has been one of the best ways to sample games before thier release.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

This is why I love arcade games from the 85 – 95 period. One look at a cabinet like this, and it isn’t hard to see what inspired this game. Modeled after buddy cop flicks like Tango and Cash, Starsky and Hutch, and Miami Vice, Lucky and Wild is an on-rails shooter/racing hybrid. You set out to catch a series of drug dealers by driving and shooting at them. The cabinet has a steering wheel and two guns attached. The idea is that player one uses the wheel and first gun while player 2 uses the second gun. Of course there are several unofficial ways to play the game as well, either increasing or decreasing the difficulty. Player two can use player one’s gun (thus saving quarters), player two can use both guns (thus freeing player one for driving), or a player can use player two’s gun while player two uses player one’s gun. It’s not the end-all of arcade games, but it was a pretty clever concept, one that could use a revisit in this age of motion capture gameplay.

Time Crisis was, and is still a trendsetter in the Arcades. Along with it’s polygonal graphics (which were pretty cutting edge at the time and still hold up well even to this day), the game also added a key innovation to the light-gun genre: the Duck Pedal. When you pressed the pedal, you popped out from under cover ready to take on enemies. When the pedal was depressed, you hid behind a nearby object where you could reload. However, each section was on a strict time limit, so you couldn’t hide underneath forever. When you played the game with another person in the game’s sequel, they played on another screen that was hooked up to the arcade cabinet, and they saw the action from a slightly different viewpoint. This was in contrast to two people looking at the same screen and being forced to take every bullet shot at them like other light gun games have done for years. Time Crisis Project Titan was a PlayStation-exclusive entry in the series. Playing as Richard Miller of the V.S.S.E, you fight to clear your name for the attempted assassination of Cuba’s President. The game contains the series’ signature duck and hide action, and you can even hide in different places by shooting the yellow arrows while the player is hiding. Oh yeah, and if you didn’t get it with the original PlayStation port of Time Crisis, TCPJ comes with a guncon for PS1. Of course it’s painted in a day-glow orange color so police won’t recognize it as a real weapon. Although TCPJ’s graphics were a bit dated at the time compared to the rest of the series, the game is still a fun light gun shooter with a gimmick that’s still clever even today.

Based upon the 1991 movie, which was based upon the 80s comic, which was a homage to 30s and 40s era pulp action comics, The Rocketeer was a fun side scrolling platformer for the NES which is reminiscent of The Batman game that came out for the NES. You play as Cliff Secord, who recently discovered a rocket pack stashed away in one of the planes. Suddenly you have to battle against legions of mobsters, gangsters, and undercover Nazis in order to keep you and your friends safe. You have an assortment of weaponry at your disposal, and if you have gas, you can fly. There are also boss battles, in-game cinematics, and the music is pretty catchy as well. Like the film it’s based on, the Rocketeer may have been forgettable, but it’s a fun ride while it lasts. And really, who doesn’t want to fly around in a jetpack killing Nazis? Hopefully it shouldn’t be too much trouble for iIntendo to get this on Virtual Console. While we’re at it, lets bring back the comic series.

Remember back in the days when instead of Japanese developers making games that appeal to American audiences, it was the other way around? Well, not necessarily American developers making games for Japanese audiences, but rather American developers making Japanese-style games? Well, Shogo: Mobile Armor Division is a relic from that era. Developed by Monolith (F.E.A.R, Condemned, Blood 2), Shogo takes its inspiration from Japanese anime such as Robotech and Gundam, putting players in control of a big robot. Rather than being a mech simulator like Mechwarrior, Shogo is a straight forward first person shooter. Playing as a young man named Sanjuro, who is a commander in the UCS, you step into the midst of a war over the planet Cronus. Sanjuro’s brother, childhood friend, and girlfriend were killed during the war. The game features a mix of mech and on-foot sections. Taking a cue from role playing games, players can sometimes hit enemies with a ‘critical shot’ which does increased damage. The game even features multiple paths and multiple endings. It was Monolith’s first game using their Lithtech engine. The character models and sparse textures show thier age, although the plot is much deeper than most FPS titles from it’s day and the gameplay is as fast paced as ever. The source code was released for the game some years ago, and there is probably a modding community that still supports it. If you love old school fps games and anime tributes (as cheesy as they might be), then you’d do well to check this out. It’s available at gog.com on the cheap.

Recently, Duke Nukem Forever was released. As everyone knows, this game was in development for so long, that it was feared to be canceled at one point. With the lukewarm reception the game has received, it might as well have been canceled. However, not all games are fortunate enough to see a release, let alone after this long. The following is a list of releases that never made it off the cutting room floor. BTW, this list does not include ports or translations of games that were canceled, just games that were canceled completely, so you can miss me with the emails about why the Dreamcast version of Shenmue 2 isn’t on here.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

It’s incredibly primitive by today’s standards, but Yie Ar Kung Fu is the grandfather of the whole fighting game genre. Taking control of Oolong, a generic Chinese fighter, you take on 11 different opponents, each with thier own abilities. Although you can’t play as the other fighters, the matches have a lot of strategy and variety. With Oolong being able to perform 16 different attacks, the game was surprisingly deep given it’s age, It was ported to several older systems, and updated on various gaming download services. The Xbox Live arcade port has remixed graphics. The Game Boy Advance version, included as part of Konami’s Arcade Advanced complication, has 2 secret opponents which can be unlocked via (what else?) the Konami code. It also has a two player mode in which players can play as any of the game’s fighters. If you like fighting games, you’ll definitely want to check out this Lost Classic.