Something is afoot…
No specific links to remakes this time around folks, I want to bend your ear about something that is brewing, and has been for the last month or two, deep in the depths of the Retro Remakes caverns.
Since being promoted to admin, I have asked the other admins and the mods if I could organise a new Retro Remakes Competition. Maybe I’m just crazy, but I want people to get another chance to enter one of these wonderful events that I myself have really enjoyed in the past. Some of my best work has been thanks to the pushes and the deadlines of a remakes comp, so I’m a big advocate of them.
Plus of course, this time around someone else would have a shot at third prize and I won’t be hogging that place on the final leader board. I will be stuck in a little room sweating and turning out entry reviews for everyone to complain about.
The Competition 2006 Forum is already opened and the cat officially out of the bag, so go along and put in your comments or questions. Please note that any questions about Splash Screens will result in a lifetime ban, and a pair of concrete wellies.
There will be more in depth details regarding the competition in the coming weeks and months, but trust me when I say we already have some top quality sponsors and some really jaw dropping prizes in the pot already. I wish that I could enter and get some of this loot. Thanks to all the people who have already responded to my calls for sponsorship.
So people, get some practice in on the Easter Mini-Competition in the forum, and keep watching the skies! It’s coming!
Morning all…
Good morning, and welcome to another bout of Remakes news.
Time to clear out some of our copious back log of news thats been gathering in our inboxes for a while. I’ll keep this one brief as its currently 3:36 am and unfortunately, I’ve been a tad busy over the weekend hence the belated post. Hopefully, there’ll be plenty here to tide you over for a while.
For those Linux fans out there, we have a remake of a game I’ve never played. Who’d a thunk it, its certainly a rare thing as its not often a game crops up that I’ve not encountered somewhere on some system. To make things worse, we’ve got a fair few remakes of this in our list. Ah, enough of my guilt complex though - why not take a peek at TaxiPilot. Its a remake of Space Taxi, and I’ll trust that if Space Taxi remakes are your thing, this is worth checking out. I don’t have Linux installed anywhere, so I’m going to have to indulge in a different remake to get myself up to speed I think. Anyway, please - give it a try!
And lo, as it was spoken - so mote it be.
Up next…wait for it… a windows remake of Space Taxi, this one titled Battle Taxi. A sentiment known to anyone who’s tried to get a taxi from Oxford Road in Manchester after 2am.
For those puzzle addicts, next up we have a remake of BlockOut known as Feitrix. For those not in the know, its pretty much a 3dimilisationalialised (not a made up word, honest guv) version of Tetris. Its quite nice, so if you fancy something a bit more brain taxing then give it a shot.
What do you get if you cross Tetris with Pong? Silly question really as everyone knows that you get Tong. Well, it made me snigger anyway. Hopefully Tong isn’t wrong and it’ll provide something a little different to while away some time. Its also only one letter away from Thong. Which is nice.
For those python inclined folks out there, perhaps the most superb name for a game I’ve had to post in a while.
Its nothing less than Angry Drunken Dwarves. You probably couldn’t guess from the title that its a remake of Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo. Nor would you guess that out of all the puzzle games in the known universe, SPFIITurbo is perhaps the only one I can lay claim to actually being any good at, mainly down to post pub gaming sessions many years ago on the Playstation. Which is a roundabout way of me saying that I quite enjoyed this remake.
I’ll leave you with word that our resident remaking machine, Mr Smila may have a small treat for those brown lovers out there due soon. Yes, those holders of the golden commode may soon find themselves with a remake of one of the holy grails of C64 gaming. Ah, I could tell you what it is… but then I’d have to kill you. Alternatively, its not hard to spot in our forum…
War! What is it good for?
Making games about, of course!
We have a triple bill of death and destruction for you this evening, that has had me slavering with blood-lust for hours on end just thinking about the tactical possibilities.
A double portion of Gollup, with a side order of Nintendo, please waiter.
World War I. Back in the mists of time, before Harry bloody Potter there was a war of wizards that was so devastatingly intense that it had to be fought in another dimension. Cool huh?
Now you can re-enact this battle with your friends or against your computer thanks to Happy Monster, who is working on a groovy new version of CHAOS.
Note that this is a W.I.P. version so please give him some feedback if you would be so kind. It is coming along nicely, and I can’t wait to see how it progresses - and of course play it online. {drool}
World War II. Now we are advancing from the magical past to more current military maneuvers. No download for this excellent multiplayer game - but that’s because you don’t need one.
Advance Wars By Web is a completely browser based remake of the famous NES, GBA & DS series of games. Go and register a username and before you know it your black hole will be rising with the best of them.
World War III. Travelling forwards again into mystery, now we find ourselves up against an other worldly adversary in this small but perfectly formed version of UFO: Enemy Unknown.
Going by the name of Pocket UFO, because it is coded for the Pocket PC, this really is a treat for all fans of the series. Lucky for me there is a version for Windows too, so I could enjoy it’s loveliness.
Good things really do come in small packages - as I keep telling the wife. (Incidentally, that may be a lie.)
Pencil Sharpener
Good afternoon folks, once again - keeping with the theme of running ever so slightly late, here’s the ever so slightly late news.
Thought I best post this one before Caff gets here with a ruck of eggciting yolkes to amuse you. Splodgeman has just finished his first ever completed remake, and I know you’re dying to try it. Good man has unwittingly remade one of my favourite arcade games ever. Ah, the years spent at the EPIC centre waiting for yet another showing of Return Of The Jedi to start… don’t be too stern on him as you go and test out his variant on Scramble.
Whilst on the subject of my favourite games, you’ll be glad to know that Sokurah’s excellent version of Omega Race has been completed and is awaiting your spacey racey shooty touch. Enjoy it, I certainly did.
Earlier this week, we mentioned Smila’s quickfire remake of WarHawk. Well, to teach him not to rush things, he’s updated the game a tad to make it an eeeny weeny bit easier on folks - so, the difficulty has been dropped a tad and to save wearing out your fingerprints you can now choose to activate the autofire. I’ve not had chance to update the webpage to reflect this yet, but if you’ve downloaded it before, the zip *is* still the same name so just click the logo to get the new version.
A couple of WIPs for your perusal before a plea on behalf of the graphically challenged party. Crozza has dropped a nod about the beta of his version of the PacMan variant “Alien” that lives on his site at the moment for those who fancy checking it out and Harken77 has a one level demo of his remake of Entombed for you to sample.
Finally, remember Head Over Heels:The Remake? Recall how beautiful it looked? Of course you do, how could you forget!
Well, how would you feel about an equally beautiful version of Ritmans Batman to accompany it? I don’t know about you, but I’m trembling at the knee’s at the thought. Ah, but there’s a catch (you knew it wouldn’t be that easy right?).
Tomaz is looking for someone who can be the one to make Batman beautiful again. So, if you’ve got exceptional (and I do mean “exceptional”) pixelling skills and reckon you could tackle an isometric remake up to Tomaz high standards then drop into our forum and show us what you can do.
Hello night owls!
I’m pretty tired tonight so this is going to be a short one I’m afraid.
The more eagle eyed of viewers might have already noticed this pop up in our forum, yesterday. The tireless Smila of Mersey Remakes has done it again, this time bringing us that good old Firebird shooter, WarHawk. Coded in only 12 hours, Smila says this is his fastest remake yet. I’m sure he must be a robot or something.
Ok, go and download it like the drooling remake vultures that you are. I’m off to drink some kestrel and prey that an Atari Falcon version comes out.
Before I take my leave, there is some hand-held simulated goodness on our forum that is just too good not to share with you. Our recent game & watch mini-competition has turned up several jewels in the rough: Among the entries are unique versions of Centipede, R-Type, Pooyan and a couple of others too. The competition voting thread, with links to all the games, can be found here.
Now I must wander off into the bleak and dark night looking for somewhere soft to lay my head. I’m shattered.
Bit late tonight…
This post is brought to you by the Haywire Sleeping Patterns Corporation of Great Britain.
Tonight, I’m going to concentrate on some up and coming goodness for you to to have a gander at as well as some current releases for you to have a play with. 2006 has already seen some great remakes, and we’re glad to say that it looks like the trend isn’t going to be bucked soon if the next batch of bumph is anything to go by.
Things which make I happy #1.
Sokurah has dropped a little gem into the forum with barely a whisper. Sometimes, its the simple games that make me happy and this is definitely the case with regards to his excellent Omega Race remake. Please, don’t be put off by its simplicity, its a crackingly addictive little game and well worth more than a few moments of your time.
Things which make I happy #2.
Those rare moments when you’re typing out a news post and an email lands in your inbox to inform you of a remake you’ve not looked at yet. Obviously, as this has landed whilst I’m typing out the news I’ve not given it a going over yet, but the screenshots look quite enticing so once this post is done and dusted, I’ll be having a play. Anyway, enough of the keeping you in suspenders - Slava Cherkasov has dropped me a nod to inform me about DiggerXP. Oddly enough, a remake of Digger.
Things which make I happy #3 and onwards…
Uncle, the forumite, not The Adventure Game plant has planted a lovely set of screenshots before me of his up and coming remake of the Sandy White classic Ant Attack. This is the kind of thing the phrase “Yes, please” was invented for.
And finally, we’d like to say a warm welcome back to the Retrospec fold after a prolonged absence to Werewolf Peter who brings with him news that he’s resuming work on his ultimate quest to bring a new chapter to the exploits of Sabre Man with Knight Lore 2. For want of a better phrase… Nice!
And for now, that concludes things that make I happy. Feel free to come and discuss these remakes on our forum if thats your kind of thing. Until next time, sleep well. Unlike me.
