Telltale Games Has Gone Back to the Future!

While technically not a retro game, Telltale's new adventure game is based on one of the most beloved retro franchises of all time--"Back to the Future."  The developer behind "Sam &Max" and other great adventure games have created a five-episode adventure game that picks up after the events of the third movie.


The story involves Marty going back in time to retrieve Doc Brown after the DeLoran returns to the present with him.  Writer Bob Gale (who co-wrote the trilogy) helped work on the game, and Christopher Lloyd voiced Doc Brown himself!

You can grab the first episode of "Back to the Future" right now over at www.telltalegames.com/bttf.  In the meantime, check out the game's trailer below!

Use your Wiimote on your Computer and Droid

I was looking for a USB NES controller one day and a Facebook friend recommend I try and use my Wiimote as a controller while I waited to purchase a USB version. I did some Google searching and came across PieGlove. It's a simple program that allows you to use your built bluetooth or a dongled to control your Wiimote. It tooke me a few tries but I got it working. If you have trouble at first, try a different version. In Windows 7 64bit I had to use the older version, which was strange.

After successfully getting PieGlove to work, I had a fantastic idea. If someone made PieGlove, then certainly there must be an NES addict out there who made a driver for my Droid X. And I was right! After a quick search in the apps store, I found a WiiMote controller app (Wiimote controller by C.C.P. Crea@ions). I loaded it up and it worked perfectly with NEStoid (which is a GREAT emulator but the on screen controls can be annoying)

Attention SEGA Fans: The Dreamcast Collection Is Coming In February 2011!

SEGA® Europe Ltd. and SEGA® of America, Inc. today announced that a packaged compilation of classic titles from SEGA’s popular Dreamcast™ console will hit retail shelves for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows PC digital download. The Dreamcast Collection will be available on February 25, 2011, in Europe and February 22 in North America.

The Dreamcast Collection includes the fan favorites Sonic Adventure™, Crazy Taxi™, SEGA Bass Fishing™ and Space Channel 5™: Part 2. Players will get to enjoy four very different Dreamcast experiences, from hopping behind the steering wheel of Crazy Taxi, to taking things a little slower by luring in their fish before catching them hook, line and sinker with SEGA Bass Fishing. Alternatively, take over as intergalactic news reporter Ulala in Space Channel 5: Part 2 and dance your way past the evil Rhythm Rogues, or make it all about speed in Sonic's first Dreamcast outing, Sonic Adventure!

SEGA’s Dreamcast Collection features enhanced graphics for both platforms versions, providing an even more engaging experience. In addition to this, achievements and online leader boards will be available on Xbox 360 for each game providing a competitive edge and allowing players to prove their skills!

“The Dreamcast console is still remembered as a pioneering console for online gaming,” commented Gary Knight, VP of Marketing at SEGA of America and SEGA Europe “We are delighted to be able to offer to our large community of dedicated fans a collection such as Dreamcast Collection for them to enjoy old favorites on this Xbox 360 and Windows PC.”

Dreamcast Collection will be available in North America on February 22, 2011, for Xbox 360 and Windows PC digital download.

Retro Review--Donkey Kong (Wii Virtual Console)

Man, I love me some Donkey Kong. There are certain games from my childhood that are embedded in my brain permanently, both for their gameplay and their unmistakable sounds. From the moment the ominous intro music starts, Donkey Kong brings me right back to 1981.


Sadly, however, the Virtual Console version of Donkey Kong fails to fully complete my nostalgic trip back to my childhood, as the version available for the Wii is the NES version, not the arcade one.

 This is bad, because the NES version, for those that don;t remember, is missing one of the four levels (the conveyor belt one).  This game has only three levels, and it’s also missing the intro where Donkey Kong jumps on the girders before Mario starts making his way up to Princess Paulina.

It’s not all bad--the base mechanics and graphics are fine, and the signature sounds are all still there. This version also offers two levels of difficulty, for those that like their barrels to be coming fast and furious.

So, if you’re looking to take a trip down memory lane, you can download Donkey Kong on virtual console for five bucks. Just keep in mind, you won’t be able to go all the way down memory lane. But, a short walk is better than no walk at all.

3 out of 5 Incomplete Trips to the Past

Grab Pac-Man on the New Chrome Web Store

If you aren't using Google's Chrome web browser by now, you should be. Not only is Chrome a great, simple browser, but Google just launched an app store featuring hundreds to apps that will make your browser feel like your smart phone. Many of the apps are free, and a couple cool free ones feature everyone's favorite ghost-chomping hero, Pac-Man. The first is Pacman Classic Arcade, whihc is a recreation of the original, and the second is Google Pacman, which features a board designed like the Google logo.

Both apps are free, and when you download them to Chrome, they become buttons you can click when you open a new browsing tab. To find them on the app store, just do a search for Pac-Man.

Sure, you can find these game elsewhere as well, but it's nice to have them just a click away when you're already using the Chrome browser.

That Game is So Hard

How many times have you heard that about an NES game? I was reminded of that line when I did an interview with No Apologies last week. I was speaking with Darrel Taylor and a few games came up.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
If you've ever played the original for the NES (and I don't mean the four turtles at a time walking around the street version) you know how hard it can be to make it through this game. All the side scrolling platforming in the sewers loaded with respawning enemies can be a bear. Not to mention, when you get low on life, you're listening to the loud beeping health reminder, go topside and get taken out by the rolling top view enemies of the streets. I always remember dropping the first three turtles like flies and then being VERY careful with the last and final turtle of the game.



Top Gun

Seriously, do I even have to point this out? How many of you can land the jet on the air craft carrier? We all have talked about it. I may have done it once or twice in my life. When I got to that point, I handed off the controller to the kid who could land it. And usually it was that kids only claim to fame. Any other game and he was terrible. But landing that plane? He could do it in a heart beat.






Transformers
Honestly, I never got past the first screen of this game. It's just ridiculous and rage inducing. And that all I really can say about it!

Retro Review: Splatterhouse (TurboGrafx-16 / Wii VC)

"Splatterhouse" is one of the classic games from the TurboGrafx-16 console, and it was the one game that made me pine for that console (even though I never actually ended up getting one). Nintendo brought the game over to their Virtual Console, and now everyone with a has a chance to check out the game.

For those that don’t remember, "Splatterhouse" was an arcade game that was ported over to the TurboGrafx-16 console. The game put players in the role of Rick, a parapsychology student that went into a supposedly haunted house called West mansion with hi girlfriend Jennifer. They get attached by strange creatures, Jennifer is kidnapped and Rick is mortally wounded. Rick wakes up some time alter, having been revived by the “Terror Mask” (which looks a lot like Jason’s hockey mask), and he sets off to save his girlfriend.

The gameplay is straight beat ‘em up-style, with Rick punching and kicking his way through floors of hideous monsters. He can also pick up weapons along the way--2x4’s, machetes and the like. The game is very graphic, even in it’s “censored” TurboGrafx-16 version on the Virtual console, which replaces some of the more disgusting elements. There are six levels that culminate in boss battles, and the bosses are some of the more unique ones you’ll see in a beat ‘em up. One of my favorites is the second boss, which is basically a haunted room right out of "Evil Dead 2," where the furnishings themselves attack you. The final level features an interesting twist that I will let people experience for themselves.

"Splatterhouse" still holds up pretty well as a beat ‘em up in my opinion, and with the remake slated to arrive for the 360 and PS3 later this month, it’s a great time to revisit this old classic. I have heard that the original will be an unlockable in the new game however, so you may want to hold off on the Virtual console version us you plan on picking up the new game, as I’m not sure if the unlocakble version will be the original arcade game.