Streets of Rage

I'm trying to go play Streets of Rage and Streets of Rage 2 on my Wii. Both are awesome games, especially for fans of the genre. I found this Streets of Rage Online fansite, and for the last hour I've just been looking through their info. They have all the info. 

Also searching around I found some cool fanart. Tons of dedicated Streets of Rage players, and with good reason. Streets of Rage is one of the best Beat 'Em ups of all time and it was released very, very early in the Genesis's life, in 1991. It would beat out Final Fight to the arcade, although it seems likely that somehow one dev team spied early versions of the others's sprites. I don't know for sure who ripped off whom, but both games defined a genre more than Double Dragon and River City Ransom ever did.

Not that the Technos games are bad, and both Final Fight and Streets of Rage rip plenty of things from both games, while introducing the idea of multiple characters instead of RPG stats (later games like The Bouncer would hybridize the two formats, having multiple characters and allowing the player to level them all up).

The Bouncer also included the traditional 1v1 mode that some many games have. I picked up The Combatribes for a few bucks a month ago and it's versus mode is just awful. All the 1v1 modes were total shit.

Back on topic: Streets of Rage kicks ass and the music kicks ass. 

Below: fan art.

Song of the Week: Lufia & the Fortress of Doom Town Theme

Lufia has the perfect town theme: happy and fun. That's why it's this week's "Song of the Week." We continue hope for the VC release of this most epic of RPGs.

Gradius NES FAQ, Walkthrough, Review & Codes

Gradius was an arcade hit in Japan. America and Europe got the game under the title "Nemesis." Europe would later get Gradius II as "Vulcan Venture." The NES revieced ports of both. So did the Turbo Grafx-16. Also the MSX.

The NES Gradius will no doubt hold a special place in many gamers' heart because it was the most accessible port for most of us growing up. Gradius was hard as shit, so I could never get very far.

The Konami Code changed that a little. Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, start. In Life Force & Contra you get 30 lives. In Gradius your ship gets near maxed.



Strategy on the NES involves

1) never getting hit
2) always having the shield up
3) having another shield ready to go if your shield gets low
4) switching from Double to Laser sometimes

In areas with a floor and ceiling it's typically better to use double. In open space, use the lasers. This means double in stages 3, 4, 6, 7. You should use the lasers for stage 5. At the END of stage 6, switch to the lasers if possible. You'll know the end is coming because of the crazy background junk.



Gradius has its fair share of other codes as well. I'm just going to list the all, then get to the review:

You can get into a nice spot with some of the core bosses in which you'll be safe. Try to go just above the 4x laser beams and sit still. All shots should miss you!

Continue Code
--------------
You can continue! At the Game Over screen, press down, up, B, A, B, A, B, A, start. You only get 1.


Skipping Levels
---------------
Warp (1 to 3): after defeating Core Fighter in level 1, when the thousands digit of your score is even, destroy 4 hatches.

Warp (2 to 4): Destroy Xaerous Core at end of level 2 within 2 seconds of its core turning blue.

Warp (3 to 5): Destroy 10 stone heads in level 3.

Game Genie Codes
-------------------
SXOOYYVI Both players have infinite lives
AENELZLA Both players start with 1 life
IENELZLA Both players start with 6 lives
AENELZLE Both players start with 9 lives
KOXOLYSP Keep power capsules
NNOEKPIE Increase force field protection
YGUONUZS + YGKPUUIL Never lose weapons

They simply did an awesome job with this port. It's just as much fun as its arcade counterpart, and the shield mechanic actually makes the game significantly easier. Plenty of codes, cool music, nice art, stage variety, challenge, and flawless hit detection make this one of the best greatest NES games you can buy. It's been released on the Wii VC as well, so get Gradius any way you can. You should probably grab Life Force as well.

I bought Gradius for 5.00 at a garage sale in the '90s. Finally conquered the NES version today. Kabuki Quantum Fighter, The Guardian Legend, The Clash at Demonhead, and now Gradius. What's next?

Neutopia Strategy Guide Scans

Neutopia was the Turbo Grafx 16's answer to The Legend of Zelda. It's got just as much charm and adventure as Nintendo's golden classic, plus the benefit of NOT BEING ZELDA--a game which most of you readers have, like me, demolished over 20 times.

You can snag an easy copy via the Wii's Virtual Console for 6 bucks; I've had this game for about 3 years now and I've yet to really sink my teeth into it. It's a great game, I've just lacked the dedication to conquer it and its sequel (Neutopia II, also released on the TG16 and WiiVC).

I found these scans in an old Turbo magazine. This walkthrough for Neutopia is amazing, and I'll probably peak at these things if I get into some trouble. I'll try not to use them, but in any case the artwork is strange and much different from the in-game style. Looks like they wanted to "Westernize" the game for American audiences...

But Neutopia's got the style, the challenge, and definitely the music to justify playing this game in 2011, so give it a try!

China Warrior Review

China Warrior takes a lot of shit for being a terrible game. Fuck the haters, this Turbo Grafx-16 classic is worth playing for beat-'em-up and fighter fans from now until the end of time.




Released in 1987 and packaged with the Turbo by Hudson, China Warrior (aka "The Kung Fu") puts you in control of a Bruce Lee clone out to kick everyone ass. Kick people to death as you fight for victory. America wouldn't get the game until 2 years later, but keep in mind this was before Super Mario Bros. 3 was released as well. Altered Beast and Final Fight had not yet hit arcades, so beat-'em-ups were in considerably shorter supply. Don't mistake this context for apologia, China Warrior is a great game in its own right.

The four stages (fields, temple, palace grounds, cave) are broken up into 3 sub-levels. Each sub-level has a boss, and some of these fights are a serious challenge. The 1-1, 1-3, 2-1, and 2-3 bosses can be beaten by perfectly timed attacks easily enough, but everyone else will make the weak of heart cringe.




Strategy revolves around backing away from your opponents attacks, and then moving in and punching. Sometimes pushing right+punch will trigger a superfist attack, although I have not been able to do this move reliably (I suspect it's a random chance to do the attack even if you push the buttons correctly). Countering three punches will initiate a flurry fist attack (a la Dragon Ball Z, Fist of the North Star) that also deals 3 points of damage.

Stages must essentially be memorized, and even with the three continues (accessed via a secret code, see below) you will, I promise, be well acquainted with stage 1-1 by the end of your journey.

The 600 point Wii price tag is a fair deal, and you're better off with China Warrior than a Big Mac Combo. It's a well-known fact that Hudson basically created China Warrior to show off the power of the TG-16, and the nice graphics and simple gameplay make a nice combination. Consider the 1989 release date, ignore the hate, and save the empire. Hudson are masters at making deceptively simple, yet highly addicting games, and China Warrior is a sadly underrated classic.




Finally, a few secret codes I took from some website:

Level skip:


Hold Up and press Select + I +
II to skip the first level. Hold Down and press
Select + I + II to skip subsequent level.


Second loop:

Hold Up + Select + I + II
and press Run at the title screen.


Debug mode:

Hold Run then hold Select to reset the
game, keep the buttons held, then release Run and press
Up when the title screen is displayed. Release Select
and press Up three times, Right six times, Down,
Down, Left, Left. Invincibility and level
select will now be enabled.


Three continues:

Hold I + II + Right and press
Run, Run when the phrase "The End" appears
after game play is over. Alternatively, hold I + II
+ Down and press Run at the title screen after game
play is over. The game will continue up to three times from the
start of the last level played.

Super Castlevania IV Nintendo Power Scans

Scans from the January 1992 Nintendo Power covering Super Castlevania IV. I still love the layouts and the artwork they worked into their magazine spreads.

Super Castlevania IV is the shit, what more can I say? It's got the smoothest whip action in any 2-D Castlevania, a ridiculous amount of levels, great difficulty curve, amazing music, and if you haven't played it you should probably do so immediately. Don't even read the last paragraph, you could be playing Super Castlevania IV.

Anyway, enjoy the gallery! Click the images for the full size.