Benny

August 2

On 28/07/2022 at 13:42, Vimster said:

Single-system mags at the time would re-review games when they came out on budget. Would be interesting to do a comparison between original and budget reviews and see how views changed.

Amstrad Action gave Head Over Heels a shocking 62% in 1990, despite it being just as good then as it was when it came out.

EDIT: I should read the thread before replying :lol: - what earlymodernsteve said.

August 2

13 minutes ago, Wiper said:

Yeah, I had a Sam 'n' Max/Day of the Tentacle White Label double pack (to 'upgrade' my original floppy disk versions), what a set

I also got that one for the same reasons. I'd played floppy versions of DotT and the Monkey Island games before that.

You could also get X-Wing and Tie Fighter collector's CDs on the White Label as well.

August 2

I was actually looking up those White Label releases yesterday, as I remember getting Full Throttle and The Dig in a great value double pack. I seem to remember they were £15 boxes at the the time, but it's proved really difficult to actually find any info about them on the internet.

August 2

Fun fact: if I'd seen a single vote for The Dig, I actually would have gone for that.

August 2

On Her Majesty's Different Streaming Service.

August 1

Erm, spoilers much.

An ALL Cutscenes video? Really?

August 1

HOTPICK #4

Full Throttle

(voted for by: Wiper)

If you were a fan of point-and-click adventure games in the mid-nineties, it was an absolutely wondrous time to be alive. The advent of CD-ROM based adventures kicked off a revolution in Red Book audio, high quality speech and full motion video, that allowed big-budget titles to really wow you with their production values. With varying levels of success of course, and often wildly inconsistent voice talent.

But one studio where you could still be assured of quality, was Lucasarts: the crème de la crème of lavish art, big name actors, and punchy writing.

From the first moment you boot up the game, Full Throttle overflows with a full-blooded 90s attitude. The licensed music, still a novelty in 1995, sets the stage for a thrilling opening title sequence of astoundingly gorgeous pixel art, with all that care and expression that only Lucasarts knew how to do so well.

Unlike the more off-the-wall adventures of the studio’s past successes, Full Throttle near-future, slightly mad-max inspired setting is grounded in a gritty, tangible realism. Motorcycles roar, hover cars thrum, knives *thunk* into tables. It’s a very specific animated style that lends real texture and weight to the characters and the world they inhabit.

And in front of this gorgeous backdrop, are larger than life characters that fill the screen both visually and aurally - Mark Hamill's slimy and horrifically moist sounding Ripburger making for a truly legendary villain.

But the star is, of course, yours truly, played by the late Roy Conrad. A no-nonsense, open road loving, salt of the earth, honest to God man’s man, who doesn’t collect art, and absolutely won’t put his lips anywhere where they don't belong.

Tossed in a dumpster and framed for murder, Ben’s journey takes you across an American wasteland that seems by turns run-down, violent and on the verge of collapse: the few pockets of civilisation that punctuate the vast, flat stretches of highway often abandoned, and where the biggest landmarks are gas stations. Glimpsed in the distance, the vast, gunmetal edifices of factories and faceless corporate monoliths, that preside over sponsored destruction derbies of death.

It seems like a grim old place, but Full Throttle uses its setting to make the moments of humour and levity, and the lightness of more tender moments, feel that much more impactful.

The relationship between Ben and Maureen in Full Throttle is one of the most believable and well written you will find across the entire history of gaming. They feel like characters with their own lives and dreams off the screen, and their friendship develops as much from what is said in their interactions as what isn't said. The subtle writing and voice work shines through in their dialogue, and makes for some of the most delightful moments of the whole adventure.

Playful, gritty, funny, epic, heart-warming, clever, wholesome, and above all, badass. Full Throttle is one of the most exciting and gripping adventures ever made.

Now, excuse me, I have some asphalt to burn up.

August 1

The thing about Paradox historical strategy games is it took them about 20 years just to update their interface.

August 1

Concept: spooky abandoned colonies on Mars

1985:

Marsport (ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC)

2004:

Doom 3 (PC)

2022:

Deliver Us Mars (various)

August 1

52 minutes ago, JamesC said:

Write the names of the fucking games!

Alright, Benny. God.

August 1

18 minutes ago, strider said:

This is cool. I've been talking about doing a visual evolution of videogames in the mag for about 12 years. The idea was to have an image of a game and then bullet points highlighting what it introduced to the genre in question. I never ran it because I didn't think readers would feel it had any value.

When the readership figures skyrocket, I will accept cash.

August 1

12 minutes ago, Ste Pickford said:

Loving these, but in nearly all the examples the massive jump is between the first two images, then only a bit if finessing* from the second to the third.

*finessing that's like years and years of work from super-genius-brains in hardware design and engine programming and tool creation and art and design skills, etc.

I think this is because the late 80s - 90s was such a ridiculous revolution in tech in so many ways, so the initial 20 year jump looked massive.

August 1

Lets see what the discourse on the forum is like around the new Sandman sho... Oh Jesus Christ.

August 1

I really like @Mr. Gerbik's one - it really captures how different that kind of game looked in such incredibly district stages. From 2D, to 3D, to photorealism. What you don't get in just screenshots of course is how drastically controls and interactions changed between them as well.

July 31

It's somewhat insane what was coming out of a GameCube in 2001. It looked bonkers for the time.

July 31

I've gotten quite addicted to that Civvie11 channel now, as it scratches a very specific itch and they're all very well made. I just hope they don't turn out to be a dickhead like nearly every other gaming YouTuber.

July 31

I feel like all three above were quite famous for the Motorcycle aspect specifically in their own individual ways.

July 31

Here's one that's on brand:

Concept: Motorcycles

1985:

Hang-On (arcade)

2002:

GTA: Vice City (various)

2019:

Trials Rising (various)

Spoiler

(17 years between each exactly, fuck your rules Bennyyyyyyyyy)

July 31

1 hour ago, Uncle Nasty said:

And I'll take Pitfall! over any of the Uncharted games and the original Elite over, well, pretty much anything.

And is Red Dead Redemption 2 really an "evolution" of Outlaw, which I presume is a Boot Hill clone?

It's an evolution of a "cowboy simulator", yes.

July 31

Except that a Switch was only mentioned because it tied into the narrative. I'm not writing buyer's guides here, you've got IGN for that.

July 31

I love how little all 6 screenshots of Football make it look like videogames have actually evolved.

July 31

3 hours ago, mwaawm said:

Surely you mean 18-21 years total timespan not between each game?

Total would be have been what I meant if that was what I wrote, yes. Only what I wrote was between each game, so that was obviously what I meant.

It's just a bit of fun anyway, no need to overthink it.

July 31

5 minutes ago, Qazimod said:

Not for the first time, @Benny has created a thread with seemingly simple rules to follow and we're all totally lost.

I think only SeanR has got lost so far, from not reading the OP. despite making a post earlier that appeared to be somewhat following the suggestions.

I just ignored everything I put myself.

It's not a top 100 anyway, do what you want. I'm not your daddy.

Spoiler

Until I say I am.

July 31

18-21 years between each, obviously. The idea was to show how games have evolved, as per the OP.

And do post the game names rather than just pictures, I like reading about games I might not have heard of before personally.

July 31

1 minute ago, 5R7 said:

@Benny Considering on your post with rules you said 18-21, then managed to pick games 40 years apart, I think the rules went out the window at the 1st hurdle

I never play by the rules. Especially my own.

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