So this was a pretty intense year for me. A whole lot happened both inside and outside of the gaming realm. While not everything was good, there was certainly a lot of exciting events that occurred this year. In regards to gaming, I was able to attend both E3 (again) and IndieCade for the first time. These were experiences I hope to continue in the following years! But if not, I’m glad to have had them at all.
Developer: Bullfrog Productions
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platform: PC – Amiga, Amiga CD32, DOS, GOG*
Many 90s children grew up with a little game called Roller Coaster Tycoon. However, it was not the first great theme park-related tycoon out there. That honor should be attributed to Bullfrog’s wonderful Theme Park. This title gets overlooked at times due to Theme Hospital, which they developed a few years later. In any case, let’s take a look back at this classic simulation game.
Theme Park, as the name implies, has the player take on the role of a theme park entrepreneur. Starting from scratch, it is your duty to design the layout, hire staff, pay attention to visitors, and keep track of new park technology. Basically anything that you might expect to have to do when managing a theme park is in this game.
It’s a bit tough to comprehend at first. Laying out park attractions, restaurants, bathrooms, and foliage is fun – until you realize you must think ahead. Spend all your money creating a massive park and staff get left out in the cold. Similarly, if you make your park cramped by design it will be harder to expand later without demolishing buildings. Your staff also happens to be ridiculously incompetent. Janitors in particular like to run laps in the cleanest corners of a park, leaving visitors to experience a yucky walkway. Be absolutely sure to institute patrols for each of them!
Even after roughing out the park, there is more to do. Restaurants require food supplies which don’t replenish on their own. Sometimes, union workers try to increase their wages. On other occasions, one poor visitor may become sick and cause a chain reaction of vomiting. You simply must be prepared for anything. Unfortunately, the map’s default zoom is quite close making it hard to know exactly what is happening at all times.
Although Theme Park is over twenty years old it has an art style that still holds up. The pixelated landscape has a really nice style to it. Buildings are also depicted in fun ways, such as burger stands being shaped like gigantic cartoon hamburgers. Everything looks wonderfully charming and inviting. Of course, it’s actually a pretty tough title, but at least it looks cute!
Theme Park is the kind of game that never ages. Even though many new tycoon games have come and gone, there’s something innately special about this one. It grants the player complete control but balances it with strategic elements. Making your park the best around is tough, but very much worth it.
4 out of 5 alpacas
Review code provided
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For some reason, the gaming world always gets into a frenzy about “Game of the Year” awards. Although they are unnecessary, I do find them to have some use. It’s a great way to show people games they may have missed out on during the year! I’ve already created a top 10 list for Game Podunk but (for various reasons) kept a few separate so they could be written about here. In no particular order, here are some games I loved that (almost entirely) came out in 2013.
The Cat Lady
Soooo… The Cat Lady came out in December of 2012, making it technically not fit into a 2013 list. However, it nearly came out this year and only recently saw a Steam release so there! In any case, this is an incredible adventure game. It’s not point and click, but close enough as you navigate left and right with arrow keys. Solving puzzles is usually not tough, but the main point of playing is to see the dark story unfold. Protagonist Susan is in a very unique situation and I simply needed to get through her entire journey.
It’s no secret that I love visual novels and this was one of the couple that I jumped on for its English release this year. Since most of the lot I play deal with high school students, it was interesting to assume the role of a tired detective. His search into a string of murders was compelling, and the need to catch the culprit was my drive to continue playing. Even after figuring it all out, I went back to play more and uncover even more.
queers in love at the end of the world
This is a super short Twine game that was created for a Ludum Dare competition. The world is about to end in ten seconds and you, the player, are spending them with the person you love. How do you spend those final precious seconds of existence? I fumbled with my choice, hurried to read as if that would stop time, but then the game ends. The experience stuck in my mind and I want others to experience it too.
The world of visual novels and dating sims is immense, but there’s very little available in English that targets any part of the LGBT audience. See No Evil is one of these titles, with its focus on romanceable bara characters, it caters toward gay men primarily. But it’s not just an exercise in eroticism. Alongside mostly simple point and click gameplay stood engaging characters that you wanted to see “live happily ever after”. Actually obtaining the good end is tricky, but left me feeling completely satisfied.
Developer: Rain Games
Publisher: Rain Games
Platform: PC – Desura, GOG*, Steam
What is it about the puzzle platformer that continues to draw independent developers to the genre? In many respects, it doesn’t seem the easiest type of game to make. Instead, it seems one that (despite rampant saturation) is a genre full of new and exciting possibilities. Teslagrad is the latest puzzle platformer out that shows the greatest promise. Whether it lives up to expectations, however, is debatable.
Teslagrad is most certainly trying very hard. By simply starting up the game for the first time you’re greeted to a rainy night against gorgeous hand-drawn backdrops. Without any words, the story begins, as a young boy is forced to run far away from home in the stormy night. He comes upon the Tesla Tower and enters, wherein he will face a great many puzzling challenges.
Yes, Teslagrad is so named for Nikola Tesla. Why? Because the primary feature of most puzzles deals with electricity (and magnetism). You begin with nothing, but gain new items which allow you to interact with electrically charged platforms, charge items yourself, and the like. For some reason it was hard for me to get a firm grasp on electricity puzzles, though. It’s not as if I hate the genre. On the contrary, most of my free time is spent playing various puzzlers. So why these puzzles continued to feel more like guesswork than skill was an incredibly odd experience. It shouldn’t have to be said, but your own playthrough may very well feel different.
Metroidvania fans will be happy to know that Teslagrad also fits into that style. Tesla’s Tower is not a completely linear thing and you can charge into a variety of rooms whenever you want. If one puzzle seems too hard at the moment, go elsewhere. Maybe you’ll find a new item! Or, maybe you’ll stumble across one of the game’s five bosses. Considering how expansive the game feels, it was a bit of a letdown to see there were not more boss encounters. They are pretty neat battles, even if they rely very heavily on simple pattern recognition.
So we’ve got a game that is entirely ambitious, looks great, and has a huge non-linear castle to explore. Yet, something about it only ends up feeling slightly above average. Puzzles that required very precise jumps were incredibly annoying, especially when there were not checkpoints in the middle of them. Making a game mechanically tough can be done well, but it doesn’t feel like Teslagrad pulls that off. After all, it varies back and forth between easy and hard. Usually, if a game is hard it stays that way throughout, or slowly ramps up in difficulty.
There are definitely players out there that will love the intriguing experience that Teslagrad provides. If you think that’s you then go ahead and buy it! For me, I just couldn’t get over the feeling that the designers crammed all their expertise into creating something gorgeous and expansive but forgot the most important ingredient – heart.
3 out of 5 alpacas
Review code provided
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Developer: Sigma Team
Publisher: Sigma Team
Platform: PC – GOG*, Steam
Ah, the twin stick shooter. Its simplicity is what draws me in. Sigma Team are a fairly well known name within the genre thanks to their Alien Shooter games. But did you know they made a couple of zombie versions? That’s exactly what Zombie Shooter is. Instead of aliens you’re faced with copious hordes of the undead.
Players can choose to play as a woman or man and then level up their character between stages. There are a handful of stages and each has its own appearance. Levels aren’t huge although you usually have to locate and then plant dynamite to proceed. Other times, you flip switches to open doors. In any case, enemies constantly flock you making it difficult.
The main method of increasing difficulty seems simply to offer more of the stronger enemies at a time the further you proceed. This is kind of annoying, but also exciting. Playing through the first few levels is a breeze but Zombie Shooter suddenly kicks into high gear. By the end, you’re frantically running for cover and hoping you’ll survive the next massive wave. The leveling system of weapons makes it so you usually don’t run out of ammo, though.
Graphics are not particularly fancy but they weren’t even at launch. They seem to recall 90s games more than anything of their actual generation. One thing that they got right was the blood. Tons of gore proliferates the screen. Eventually, stages end up being so caked with blood that the floor is entirely red. You can change the blood color but what’s the point?
There are some problems with Zombie Shooter and the biggest is the main character’s ability to get stuck on environment geometry. It happened on three stages for me and was a source of very unneeded panic and frustration. Getting randomly stuck makes you an open target from all angles and routinely caused failure. Another issue is due to the isometric viewpoint. With no ability to change the angle, zombies can be hidden and launch surprise attacks.
All of this is to say that the game is fun, but very brief, and you likely won’t come back later. For whatever reason there is no multiplayer mode which would have enticed me to play some more. It won’t do much harm to play Zombie Shooter but you’ll probably want to seek out something with a pulse.
2 out of 5 alpacas
Review code provided
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Developer: Michael Zerbo
Publisher: Michael Zerbo
Platform: PC – Direct
Back when DOOM was huge everyone wanted to jump in on the shooter craze. Pie in the Sky was a program which let users create their own 3D FPS titles. One game that utilized this software went by the name of Terror in Christmas Town. As the name implies, it is a shooter but with a Christmas theme.
Although there are elves, seals, and Eskimos dotting the landscape, there are also bunches of mean bears out to get you. How do you stop them? Simply pick up a shotgun or a rocket launcher! Because this is a game based around a holiday, however, using these weapons doesn’t render a big, bloody mess. Instead, the bears turn into smiling snowmen. Your own health is represented by a melting snowman. It’s kind of cute/creepy.
The game plays like what you would expect from a DOOM clone, except it has a more robust inventory system. But beyond that, it’s a pretty dull experience. There was no audio in game when I played, although there was an initial sound clip upon loading the game, so I’m not sure what that means. But without any sound at all, the experience is far lonelier. It’s also annoying to not hear bears roar or something to know that one has suddenly snuck up behind you.
Terror in Christmas Town is an interesting effort but there’s not much to it. The Christmas theme at least makes it stand out against other Pie in the Sky-made games, but why play it when you can just grab the genuine artifact?
1 out of 5 alpacas
The contest has concluded! Congratulations to HoraceRay, joe ling, ken, Maverynthia, and Venomous!
Hello and welcome to our latest contest on Pixel Pacas! Did you read our review of MURI and suddenly feel nostalgic for DOS games? If you’re a fan of classic action platformers then you simply have to try this one. Luckily, we have copies of MURI to give out to spread some holiday cheer! A big thanks goes out to Ludosity for providing us with five giveaway codes.
Here are your options for entering our giveaway.
Option One:
1. Follow our Twitter account – @PixelPacas
2. After you’ve followed us, post the official contest tweet: Classic shooter/platformers are still awesome and MURI proves it! Pick me, @PixelPacas ! wp.me/p3taEI-qN
Option Two:
1. Comment on this post with why you’re excited to play MURI.
Note that you are allowed to do both options! This will grant you two entries into the giveaway instead of one. If you do both, make sure you tell us your Twitter handle in the blog comment so the entries get paired up.
Our MURI giveaway ends on Thursday – January 2nd at 10 AM PST. Good luck and happy holidays!
If you’d like to stay in the loop about our contests and content our Twitter is always kept up to date. But if you don’t use Twitter, we also have a Steam Group that is updated whenever a new giveaway goes live.
Developer: FuturLab, Curve Studios
Publisher: Curve Studios
Platform: PSN – PS3, Vita PC – Steam
Velocity was a lovely little shooter that launched on PS3 and Vita in 2012 to favorable reviews but it seemed that many gamers simply missed out on it. Velocity Ultra is basically the same game, but given a nice HD coat of paint. Now that I’ve finally played it, I’m amazed to how the original game ever managed to slip under the radar of so many.
Velocity Ultra is a scrolling sci-fi shooter but does many things to make it a far more engaging experience than most. Your ship comes with a host of features that are introduced one by one. First, you have the ability to speed boost at will which comes in handy when you need to blast through a stage. There is also an unlimited supply of bombs to help you shoot down or to the side (as with most traditional ships which can’t shoot in any direction but up). Another neat feature is the ability to teleport around. Not only can this get you out of a tight spot between bullets, but it is also necessary when obstacles get in the way.
These might not sound like groundbreaking changes but they come together in such a way that the game is tremendously fun. Although there are no difficulty selections, it really feels like Velocity Ultra caters to a wide audience. Shooter newbies as well as regular players could likely both enjoy it. But what about people who don’t necessarily dig the genre? Even then, the game offers up ways to change the standard formula.
Gameplay modes vary from stage to stage but sometimes the game suddenly becomes a puzzler. This is done via numbered gates that need to be hit in order to “unlock” an area. However, branching paths make it so you can rarely unlock a zone in one go. Instead, you have to put down a warp (or series of them) in order to return to forks and travel down different paths. Sometimes, paths are nearly hidden by being way off to the side of the screen. Not only do you have to contend with enemies but you must discover all gates!
Despite being only an average shooter fan, I was able to blast through the first forty stages with little issue. After that, you’ve got to return to previous levels to rack up more points to have enough for the last few. The fifty stages are excellent and offer a great deal of replay value. You can compete with yourself to try and get a gold medal time, save all survivors, or destroy all enemy waves for bonuses. Of course, you can also try climbing the ranks of the online leaderboard.
Although Velocity Ultra is entertaining enough just from a gameplay standpoint, the rest of the package blends together wonderfully. For one, the visuals look crisp and stylish. The music is in a whole other league together, with each track being extremely cool and fun to listen to. Personally, I’m fighting the urge to buy the soundtrack! The only downside to the music is that it doesn’t loop, meaning there are moments where no music plays at all before restarting again.
For all this glowing adoration, there were a few issues lurking on the sidelines. At times, I would warp into a wall (though you’re not supposed to). It’s easy enough to warp back out, but it would always freak me out and cost precious time. Also, it feels like the screen isn’t offering enough vertical space to see what’s coming next. For a vertically scrolling shooter to not have a standard vertically oriented screen is fairly alien to me, although it was probably done to benefit the lateral searching on some stages. Finally, the game is designed with controllers in mind so watch out if you want to play with keyboard.
Velocity Ultra is such a fun game it’s hard to knock it too much. The developers managed to create a shooter that isn’t just fun for genre fans but for new players as well. Anyone looking for a different sort of shooter will find what they’re looking for in Velocity Ultra.
4 out of 5 alpacas
Review code provided
About our rating system
Developer: Image & Form
Publisher: Image & Form
Platform: 3DS – eShop, PC – Steam
I’m going to let you in on a secret. Game reviewers play a tremendous amount of games throughout the year. To stay afloat, you learn to simply leave games alone once they are completed and reviewed. Nobody tells you this but most train themselves with the mindset all the same. The fact that I can’t simply toss aside SteamWorld Dig after completing it is a sign – this is something special.
Initially it launched on the 3DS eShop and met with a lot of positive press. Gamers, too, were loving every minute with it. Now that it’s out on Steam I decided it was finally time to see what the fuss was all about. From the outside, SteamWorld Dig doesn’t necessarily seem impressive. There is a cast of robots and the lead robot mines deep into the Earth, gaining new powers discovered in caves.
Mining is quickly becoming an overplayed element in games. Thankfully, SteamWorld Dig isn’t yet another attempt to tweak Minecraft. Yes, you mine, but to create paths for yourself. The eventual goal is to reach the bottom, but there’s a lot to find along the way. Not only are there caves which offer special new equipment and abilities, but there are also lots of rare minerals to take back to the surface. A satchel full of goodies can be turned in at the store for loads of money.
One by one the town shops reopen. With them come copious new upgrades to your pick, armor, fists, and drill. Some upgrades cost coins while others require coins and orbs. Orbs are a rarer substance which is found from time to time while digging. It was annoying to need this second payment method because of its scarcity. As such, I had to skip out on multiple upgrades for a long time simply because I didn’t have enough orbs (but had more than enough money).
In any case, once you’re loaded up with upgrades SteamWorld Dig becomes much more fun. You can explore longer before your lamp burns out and even fall from greater distances without pain. Of course, you still have to look out for underground dwelling enemies! Mining straight down will advance you through the game faster, but it’s much better to explore side to side as well. Collecting more money and orbs is recommended before descending to the final areas.
Each aspect of the world has lovely visuals. The colorful artwork was even upgraded from the 3DS release to PC and it shows. Simply looking at each robot reveals a bevy of details including one who has tiny spinning gears in his eyes! Different layers of the world are themed differently as well. If the dull dirt and rocks are boring you, soon enough the landscape will change. Of course, along with that comes more dangerous territory. Acid spewing rocks, explosive barrels, and lasers will all get in your way alongside creatures.
Although I had some gripes with the lack of orbs and increased difficulty near the end, I would be remiss to discount the game. There were far more moments of being completely absorbed by the simple task of mining and collecting treasure. This is one of those games that scratches that “gameplay” itch in an incredibly simple but fun way. SteamWorld Dig is highly recommended. With randomized worlds it is quite a treat to explore. Play it, complete it, and go back for another round!
4 1/2 out of 5 alpacas
Review code provided
About our rating system
Tale of Tales is one of my favorite developers out there. They’re best known for projects such as The Graveyard, The Path, and Bientôt l’été. I shared my own glowing review of Luxuria Superbia a little while ago and absolutely loved it. Even when I don’t adore one of their projects, I still respect what they’re doing.
To celebrate their tenth anniversary, Tale of Tales has a bundle up with many of their past experiments and prototypes. I won’t list everything here as the bundle page does so in wonderful fashion. Some of the items I’m most interested in include 8 – their first unfinished game project (that may actually be coming back in the future!). There are also tests and prototypes for The Endless Forest, Fatale, and more.
Basically, this collection is something that no Tale of Tales fan should miss out on! It is running from now until December 25th. Because you must pay a $5 minimum, this bundle might not be accessible by everyone, unfortunately. If you do have an iOS device though you can grab Luxuria Superbia for free today!
January 1st, 2014 
