The Koala Rebellion – A nod to classic Adventure games such as The Day of the Tentacle gets a demo

Gamers who prefer a more humorous Adventure game will be pleased with this news, as we’ve recently found out that the Adventure game of ‘ The Koala Rebellion ‘ developed for both Windows and MAC, has got a new demo for you to try as a teaser to the upcoming full version. This game according to the creator, is a wacky game that will not only make you laugh, but will also take you to the places of our favorite movies and video games of the 80s and 90s.

As noted by the description : Fred, the cute and cuddly koala bear, has become a super genius in some inexplicable event. Having attained this high level of consciousness, he no longer wants to be locked up in a cage and be gawked at. He somehow destroys Earth and sets out his conquest of the universe. In this demo, you’ll visit the beautiful world of Qerona and you’ll learn how to play the game, either by dying or through a successful completion of the story!

Links :1) Source 
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THE BLOODIAN CHRONICLES – Fan game inspired by one of the strangest retro games Captain Blood.

Let’s go back to 1988, a time when one of the strangest games was to set the tone for space adventuring, alien communication and finger pointing game play. It just had to be Captain Blood developed by the French company Exxos (ERE informatique). A game which is the inspiration behind Eviral’s work in progress fan game of ‘THE BLOODIAN CHRONICLES’; a tribute to Captain Blood that was quoted in one retro magazine as “the more we wanted to continue playing, if only to meet more aliens”.

The objective of the original game beginning on the spaceship bridge of the Ark. Was to track down and destroy five clones of captain blood, which are found through the communication of aliens on different planets using the very odd UPCOM system. Each icon, and there’s 150 or so of them gives a different concept in how you deal with talking to the Alien races and gaining information either good or bad. In regards to this fan game however, The Bloodian Chronicle is inspired by Captain Blood sci fi video game released in 1988 but is not an official sequel.

The Bloodians Chronicles is under development but this preview (beta 2) is fully functional. This preview contains the 4 first chapters of the game. The final full game will be made of 2 episodes of 12 chapters each.

Links :1) Source  2) Website

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Top10 Best Retro Arcade PC Ports – A nostalgic retro gaming special by DarkwyndPT

If you read my retrofreaks’s guidelines, you know that I don’t normally review ports, console or arcades games. Mostly I do this to give exclusive PC games a chance to shine. But how about arcade ports released on the PC? And instead of reviews, why not a Top10? Think of it as a way to bend my guidelines. But before that, some basic rules:

  • Only retro ports of arcade titles are featured. That means any port released for the PC up to 1999, included. There won’t be any mention of modern ports of retro arcade titles (e.g.: D&D Chronicles of Mystara or Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection).
  • Only official releases. No clones or fan-made games (e.g.: PC-Man or Mario Bros VGA).
  • To make the list more diverse, only one game per series or franchise is allowed. You won’t find entire collections in one entry.
  • I haven’t played every single retro arcade port out there, so if you think of any title that should be on this list, mention it in the comments below.
  • I rated the list based on the faithfulness of the ports, if they’re fun to play and if they’ve aged well.
OK, let’s start:
Number 10
Turbo OutRun

Turbo OutRun was ported by Code To Go and released in 1990 and it’s way better than its sequel, with good graphics and average controls. The reason why I don’t put it higher on the list is due to the lack of music, the lack of quality in the sound effects and the scale of the sprites in comparison with the arcade original. Apart from that, it’s still a nice driving game. You can play it in here.

Number 9
Golden Axe

Golden Axe was released in 1990 and it’s closer to the Megadrive/Genesis port than to the arcade original. It has great graphics and a good soundtrack. And again, the reason why it isn’t higher in the list is due to the slow animation and the awful sound effects. Still, it’s probably the best computer port of Golden Axe. You can play it in here.

Number 8

Arkanoid: Revenge of DOH

Arkanoid: Revenge of DOH aka Arkanoid II was ported by NovaLogic and released in 1989. It’s a pretty faithful conversion with great mouse controls, nice music, sound effects and animation, and it even features a level editor. The EGA graphics could have been a bit more colourful. The reason I didn’t score it higher was that I’ve found the rest of the games in the list better. You can play it in here.

Number 7

Bubble Bobble

Bubble Bobble was also ported by NovaLogic and released in 1988. NovaLogic did some great conversions of Taito’s titles and this one is no exception. Very faithful with great music, sound, graphics, animation and controls. The reason it isn’t higher is that there was a bug in the original release that slowed the gameplay on faster PCs. But nowadays, with patches and DosBox, it isn’t a problem anymore. You can play it in here.

Number 6

Star Wars

Star Wars was ported by Vektor Grafix and released in 1989. I’ve already done a review of it some years ago. Suffice to say it’s a surprisingly faithful and fun port and you can play it in here.

Number 5

Super Off-Road

Ivan ‘Ironman’ Stewart’s Super Off-Road was ported by Graftgold and released in 1990. Another faithful port with some over-sensitive controls that prevent it from being higher on the list. You can play it in here.

Number 4

Operation Wolf

Operation Wolf was ported by Banana Development and released in 1989. A great (and hard) faithful port, albeit with some average sound effects but with tight mouse controls. You can play it in here.

Number 3

Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat was ported by Probe Software and released in 1993. I was torn between including this one or Mortal Kombat 3, but I ultimately decided on this one due to the CD-ROM release being virtually arcade perfect in all aspects: graphics, sound, music, animation with good controls and none of the censorship that plagued some home releases. You can buy it on GOG.com (along with 2 and 3).

Number 2

Super Street Fighter II Turbo

Super Street Fighter II Turbo was ported by Eurocom and released in 1995. Based on the 3DO port, this one is another almost arcade-perfect conversion, especially the CD-ROM release which featured an arranged soundtrack. I also like to point out the tight controls with the original 6 button-scheme from the arcade original. You can play it in here.

Now, before we move on to number 1, let’s first look at some honorable mentions:

Ms Pac-Man

PC-Man might be one of the best Pac-Man clones to play on DOS, but Ms Pac-Man (ported by Quality Software and released in 1984) is actually a pretty fun port that barely misses our list, mostly due to its age. You can play it in here.

Altered Beast

When playing through several arcade ports for preparation for this list, one title that surprised me was Altered Beast (ported by Unlimited Software and released in 1990). Another fun port that barely missed the list, only due to its horrible colour palette. Everything else in it, it’s actually not bad, especially the music. You can play it in here.

With this out of the way, we can now move on to…

Number 1

Super Space Invaders

Taito’s Super Space Invaders was ported by Kremlin and released in 1991. Yes, this is not an arcade-perfect port but it takes the arcade original and expands upon it by adding a lengthy cartoon intro, a story and branching paths. Not to mention that it’s still a fun game to play nowadays. You can play it in here.

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed my list and I know I haven’t played every arcade port out there, which is why I encourage everyone to list their favourite ports in the comments below. Also, let me know if you want to see more lists like this one on my website (here). Until then, keep on playing and inserting more credits.

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Pepper Pengui – An online playable game with inspirations to Pengo (Browser Based/Windows)

Looking through the itch.io website for new retro styled games to play on your home computer or via an internet browser at work :p, we’ve just come across a new game called ‘Pepper Pengui’ developed by All-x Dev and Dotto Meister. This game from the look of the video below or linked here, is an enjoyable new arcade game which is inspired by other games such Pengo and those wonderful Japanese early 80s coin ops.

In this game created by All-x Dev and Dotto Meister, you play the role of Pepper; a Penguin that must put a stop to some Flaming thugs who have disturbed your sleep and are now trying to burn down the inside of your cave. Eliminate all the invaders using your egg bomb, beware of hot areas as you will have difficulty moving through them, use the Ice blocks to cool the fires down or to block enemies, and finally restore the ice using your snotty sneeze! 

Links :1) Source 

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Mutants from the Deep – An awesome looking game for the MSX by Locomalito and team (Windows May 27th)

Fabulous news has just hit our inbox and one I think MSX gamers across the globe will be excited for, as Locomalito, the same designer behind games such as the fantastic Ghouls ‘n Ghosts style game of Maldita Castilla, and the awesome shoot em up teamed up with Gryzor87 for ‘Super Hydorah’, has announced the release of MUTANTS FROM THE DEEP; a fantastic looking under water shooting game that is available for the MSX and will also be released soon for Windows.

Mutants from the Deep (sample) from Locomalito on Vimeo.

Although Mutants from the Deep was actually finished in 2018 as a Windows game mimicking the technical limitations of the MSX1 computers, our good friend Gryzor87 who did the sound effects and music for Super Hydorah, sent the game over to Manuel Pazos and Fernando García who could actually port the game to a real MSX fitting it in to a 64k cartridge, which is the version you’ll be playing today on your home retro computer or playable online. 

Still for those of you who don’t have an MSX and would rather play the Windows version of which I can’t wait to experience for myself, playing as either Marcelo the diver or Marila the mermaid avoiding deadly creatures in the under water depths, we also know the game will be released on May 27th for Windows. So yes certainly a game worthy of a mention here at Indie Retro News!

  • Look and feel of a MSX1 game from 1987 (Windows)
  • 2 characters, 2 stories and 1 special ending.
  • 7 levels with different scroll directions.
  • A single health bar for the entire game.
  • Stores to upgrade your gear.
  • Around 25 minutes of game length (once fully mastered).

Links :1) Source 2) Download 3) Play Online

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Microids announces a 90’s classic will be getting a Flashback 2 sequel (again)

Flashback was an amazing Action Platformer for its time, it was released in 1992 by Delphine Software on a multitude of systems such as the Amiga, Acorn Archimedes, Mega Drive/Genesis, MS-DOS, NEC PC-9801, Super NES, and even the Sega CD. Well as a shocking surprise today as thanks to DSOGaming letting us know, we have been told that Microids has announced that the development of Flashback 2 has started on PC and consoles!

Although details are still sparse from what has been announced so far, what we do know however, is the fact that not only will the game be under the supervision of Paul Cuisset, but just like the original will be an action platformer starring Conrad B. Hart. 

Publishing a sequel to Flashback is a real honor for Stéphane Longeard, CEO of Microids: “We are super excited to offer the fans a sequel to this masterpiece of the French video game history. At Microids, we thrive for delivering projects highlighting the craft of talented individuals. Paul Cuisset is a French hall of famer known internationally. We are proud to work hand in hand with him and his team on this project.”.

“Developing a sequel to Flashback is an idea I’ve had for a very long time. I can’t wait for players to discover the new adventures of Conrad B. Hart, a character created almost 30 years ago. With Microids, we are really aiming to please the fans of the original title while being appealing to any players with a weak spot for futuristic games“ adds Paul Cuisset.

Links :1) Press Release  2) Twitter

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