QCF: Trophy

o matter how many times I’ve seen it, I still think it’s BUCK wild to see a brand new game for the NES get commercially released over 30 years past the system’s prime. The Homebrew scene for these legacy platforms are further bolstered by the flexibility of the Digital Marketplace hosted by every notable name you can think of, like Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Valve, or hell, even Atari.

One of the latest releases for the most popular 8-Bit machine is an homage to Mega Man by developer Gradual Games named Trophy, and it’s not only been made available on Cartridge for its original hardware, it’s also available on Switch eShop and Xbox Marketplace via a proprietary NEW Emulator to boot. The technical chops on display are nothing of impressive, as the game seemingly uses every MMC Mapper to push the most out of the system to run it, but the core design of the game hardly does anything to impress beyond the sheer novelty of it being a new Action Shooter you can grab for the NES.

Tophy is certainly no Mega Man, but it isn’t even a Darkwing Duck, or a Krion Conquest, or hell even a Whomp ‘Em—it’s just a another retro game with some bizarrely outdated design by comparison.

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Bullet Heaven #237 - Stahlfeder (PSX)

Stahlfeder: Tekkou Hikuudan is a game that doesn't exactly come up often. It's pretty uncommon from a very obscure developer and publisher and it was only released in Japan... and it has a really neat cover. We dig it. But what about the game? Let's take a closer look!

Missed an episode?   

Bullet Heaven 235: Iron Crypticle Review

Bullet Heaven 236: Rym 9000 Review

Bullet Heaven CCXXXVII: Einhander Taikenban Review

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Bullet Heaven #224 - Battle City (FC)

We finally acquired one of our very favourite games from our childhood and the last early famicom game we were missing that we played frequently on our 31-in-1 converted Famicom cartridge! The game? Battle City. Its significance? Enourmous. Still as good? Worth the wait? Let's see how it stacks up. 

Missed an episode?
Bullet Heaven 221: Galaxy Frontier
Bullet Heaven 222: Debris Infinity
Bullet Heaven 223: Shikhondo Soul Eater

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QCF: Toki

n somewhat of an ironic twist, one of the fondest memories I have with video games from my childhood isn’t a video game that I played on my television, but a show that I watched on my television about video games. As the 16-bit boom kicked off the nineties, Nickelodeon debuted Nick Arcade—a new game show that embraced the gimmickry of its video aesthetic with the grace of cat walking along a floor made of bubble-wrap.

While the show has only gotten hokier with age, it was vital for a Challenge segment that showcased some of the hottest new games in action on my television screen, something no issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly or GamePro could ever do, and one of those games was Toki: Going Ape Spit.

In a climate that was undeniably overwhelmed with action-platformers, Toki managed to stand out from all of the other classics that were lined up for the show with its bizarrely unattractive, yet colorfully sharp visuals, and surprisingly delicate balance of action and strategy for an arcade shooter. Decades later, the lumbering primate has suddenly slouched his way back into 2018 with a remastered remake of the arcade classic that mostly considered to be vaporware at this point, until the development of it was taken over, and then released by a French developer and publisher Microïds.

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PPR Presents Play Play: Assault Android Cactus

hat do you get when through in colorful robot heroes, bright danger lasers, and a struggle between good and evil that has absolutely nothing to with cacti? You Android Assault Cactus of course, the feverishly fast-paced, brightly colored Twin-stick shooter from Witch Beam Games.

Join Ser and George as they blast their way through the gauntlet of levels and challenges that await within this indie love-letter to  old-school shooters, all the while George makes some shitty references to Code Lyoko…

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

PPR 69

loody mayhem you say, well; we have something we’d like to share. This week on Press Pause Radio, we return to discuss the subject of violence in video games and media in general as far as what sort of influence they may potentially have. Among all the serious talk, we also discuss Mailman ethics, Gargoyles the TV series, Dead Island controversies, Unepic, and more. So just sit back, relax, and enjoy the latest gathering of the PPR gang as we clench fists and talk some words on the effects of shooting a gun with a controller, spoiler; nothing dangerous and we’ll share why.

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QCF: Primal Carnage

Is it just me, or has there never been a truly great dinosaur game? Turok doesn't seem to hold up and the recent Jurassic Park game received poor reviews from both critics and fans alike. On the surface, this doesn't seem like a valid issue or concern. But when you think about it, these prehistoric creatures would make perfect cannon fodder for any videogame, and it's a damn shame that I can't think of any fantastic dinosaur-centered games.

Enter Primal Carnage, a first-person multiplayer Steam title that aims to give players the thrill of hunting and becoming the lethal predators that stalk various media. A thrill which, unfortunately, has a lot of problems scattered amongst its few fun moments.

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PPR Presents Lime Light: Gunlord

It’s been a while but Limelight is back! We’re going to stream the latest from NG.DEV.Team, the frantic, old-school inspired Gunlord for the Sega Dreamcast! Take one part Super Turrican, one part Magician Lord, a little bit of Metroid, and you’ve got some bat-shit insanity, ripe for streaming! Tune in around Saturday, October 27^th, at 9:00 PM pacific time and join us in the chat on our Justin.TV account or settle in for the stream right here where George and Andrew get down on the get down and might have a couple of brews while they’re at it.