003 Vindicators

Hey, it's Jon. Time for a retro game review.

This week I picked a game called "Vindicators" from 1988. This one appeared on many computer formats and game systems, but I played the arcade version found on the Midway Arcade Treasures disc for the PS2.

According to the title screen, the time is... the future and you control a little tank in this top-down up-scrolling shooter.

The graphics are pretty 80s, which I can live with, but the sound is especially uninteresting. About the only sort of cool sound is the robotic voice that counts down until you're dead.

The control is standard tank steering -- you know, the individual left and right treads of the vehicle that you must coordinate in unison. Sometimes, especially when you get turned around, it gets confusing and you find yourself helplessly treading back and forth on the battlefield like an idiot. Couple that with having a separate set of controls to control the spin of the turret and you often find yourself as a sitting target.

I can't complain about the controls though. It's really more of a fun-challenging sort of hard instead of a suicidal/frustrating sort of hard. And just moving the tank itself is pretty fun in itself... sort of like driving a stick shift I guess.

Quibbles aside, after getting used to it, this game became damn addictive. When 2 a.m. rolled around I realized I was no longer playing it for this stupid review. I'm so glad my PS2 came with unlimited quarters.

A really nice touch, especially for an old game like this, is enemies falling victims to friendly fire. I loved charging through their ranks and watching them blow each other to smithereens in the crossfire.

If you can believe this, there's a certain point where you can play to win a Vindicators t-shirt. I wanted it so bad, but I just couldn't pass that part. Turns out the t-shirt deal was only effective until October 1st 1988. I guess there's always eBay.

Til, next week, bye!

002 Disruptor

Hey, Jon Madsen here with another retro game review!

This week I found the old 1996 PS one game called DISRUPTOR. I was glad to find it because I know it was the first development from the company known as Insomniac. These are the same guys who brought us the Ratchet and Clank series, which I am a HUGE fan of. They also did the PS3 title Resistance: Fall of Man.

According to the sticker on the gamecase, DISRUPTOR won the Ultra Game Players "Best 1st Person Shooter" Award, so I was pretty pumped to get playing. The game also has the added aspect of additional "Psi-powers" of the mind that you can use to stun or attack enemies or heal yourself in an emergency.

Unfortunately, I found myself disappointed. Perhaps I'm too used to the "look control" of Halo, but I had a real hard time getting used to using the L1 and R1 buttons to strafe. The psi-power thing is sort of interesting, but for the most part, it's just something else to worry about. It would have been nice if they just incorporated some elements of the psi-powers into some Ratchet and Clank worthy weapons. The most interesting weapon is one called the Lock-on cannon which locks onto targets and sends slow moving mine drones to blow them up. The only times this weapon actually worked well was when my enemies shot it at me.

If you want to start right at level 5, here's the passcode:
X
CIRCLE
TRIANGLE
CIRCLE
SQUARE
X
X
X
CIRCLE
CIRCLE
CIRCLE
TRIANGLE

From there you can face off with enemies that look, act and sound exactly like the brown imps in Doom.

Anyway, the game does have some pretty sweet and cheesy real-life cinematics between levels.

In short, just play Doom, or do some Ratchet and Clank if you want something better from the supurb Insomniac crew.

001 Battle Lode Runner

Battle Lode Runner