AL82 Retrogaming Longplays | Master of Weapon Longplay (Arcade) [QHD] @AL82RetrogamingLongplays | Uploaded 2 months ago | Updated 5 hours ago
Game Info
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Developer: Taito
Publisher: Taito
Year of Release: 1989
Game Review & Impressions
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Somewhat innocuous vertical shoot 'em up by Taito, Master of Weapon is an inoffensive, but ultimately rather bland example of its kind. It's the usual case of blowing up enemies and collecting power-ups, adorned with what I'd describe as grey and uninspiring graphics.
Master of Weapon sees the return of the ground-based attack mechanism, popularised by Namco's Xevious, where it's possible to unleash your craft's air-to-ground ordnance on enemies below you. Given that the majority of the game is set in urban cityscapes, seeing buildings come crashing down as you unleash thermo-nuclear death from above is relatively cool.
Master of Weapon isn't actually a bad game, just one that I didn't find particularly entertaining. It's difficult to stand out in such a crowded genre, and this was just middle-of-the-road for me.
Chapters
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00:00 Attract mode
00:48 Stage 1
01:25 Stage 2
04:15 Stage 3
09:37 Stage 4
13:00 Stage 5
20:00 Stage 6
22:10 Ending
Game Info
---------------------------------------------------
Developer: Taito
Publisher: Taito
Year of Release: 1989
Game Review & Impressions
---------------------------------------------------
Somewhat innocuous vertical shoot 'em up by Taito, Master of Weapon is an inoffensive, but ultimately rather bland example of its kind. It's the usual case of blowing up enemies and collecting power-ups, adorned with what I'd describe as grey and uninspiring graphics.
Master of Weapon sees the return of the ground-based attack mechanism, popularised by Namco's Xevious, where it's possible to unleash your craft's air-to-ground ordnance on enemies below you. Given that the majority of the game is set in urban cityscapes, seeing buildings come crashing down as you unleash thermo-nuclear death from above is relatively cool.
Master of Weapon isn't actually a bad game, just one that I didn't find particularly entertaining. It's difficult to stand out in such a crowded genre, and this was just middle-of-the-road for me.
Chapters
---------------------------------------------------
00:00 Attract mode
00:48 Stage 1
01:25 Stage 2
04:15 Stage 3
09:37 Stage 4
13:00 Stage 5
20:00 Stage 6
22:10 Ending
![Master of Weapon Longplay (Arcade) [QHD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/E0ENexjiHUk/hqdefault.jpg "Master of Weapon Longplay (Arcade) [QHD]
Game Info
Developer: Taito
Publisher: Taito
Year of Release: 1989
Game Review & Impressions
Somewhat innocuous vertical shoot em up by Taito, Master of Weapon is an inoffensive, but ultimately rather bland example of its kind. Its the usual case of blowing up enemies and collecting power-ups, adorned with what Id describe as grey and uninspiring graphics.
Master of Weapon sees the return of the ground-based attack mechanism, popularised by Namcos Xevious, where its possible to unleash your crafts air-to-ground ordnance on enemies below you. Given that the majority of the game is set in urban cityscapes, seeing buildings come crashing down as you unleash thermo-nuclear death from above is relatively cool.
Master of Weapon isnt actually a bad game, just one that I didnt find particularly entertaining. Its difficult to stand out in such a crowded genre, and this was just middle-of-the-road for me.
Chapters
00:00 Attract mode
00:48 Stage 1
01:25 Stage 2
04:15 Stage 3
09:37 Stage 4
13:00 Stage 5
20:00 Stage 6
22:10 Ending")
![Steel Gunners 2 Longplay (Arcade) [QHD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/EFyfCJtm66k/hqdefault.jpg "Steel Gunners 2 Longplay (Arcade) [QHD]
Game Info
Developer: Namco
Publisher: Namco
Year of Release: 1991
Game Review & Impressions
I recently covered Steel Gunner on the channel and found it to be a visually impressive, if overchallenging target shooting experience. What surprised me was that Namco put out sequel the following year, so I figured Id fire it up and see what could have possibly changed within the space of a year.
Not much, is the answer; the story, setting and plotline are pretty much identical to the original game, with the only real difference being the foot-soldiers youre gunning down are biomechanical, vat-grown hybrids, rather than the robots from the first game. Aside from the fact these enemies die in fountains for red bio-juice, not to mention the occasional appendage flying off in the process, theres little to tell this apart from its predecessor.
My personal take on the original Steel Gunner was it looked great, but the difficulty was far too punishing to be genuinely fun for a solo player. Steel Gunner 2 continues that trend, although I felt it was perhaps a little more generous in the number of missiles handed out as part of the end-of-level resupply sequence. The graphics are still excellent, and the use of multi-layer parallax and gradient-shaded ground layer make this one of the most convincing faux 3D environments using sprite scaling so far, perhaps even being the best of them until the arrival of Segas Alien 3: The Gun a few years later.
Again, Steel Gunners 2 is probably a lot better as a co-op experience than it is solo, so bear that in mind if you decide to check it out. It looks and sounds great, but you really need to have taken your precognition pills and a course in tactical speed-shooting if you hope to get through this in one piece.
Chapters
00:00 Attract mode
01:22 Stage 1
03:50 Stage 2
07:15 Stage 3
11:25 Stage 4
16:15 Stage 5
20:07 Stage 6")
![A-jax Longplay (Arcade) [QHD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/F1kWnzzYxEg/hqdefault.jpg "A-jax Longplay (Arcade) [QHD]
Game Info
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Year of Release: 1987
Game Review & Impressions
Not to be confused with a popular brand of bleach, A-Jax is yet another late 80s coin-op Id never heard of before. Having played through the game, I reckon its something of a hidden gem from around that time; the game demonstrates the capabilities of Konamis arcade hardware, featuring some really cool sprite scaling and rotation effects.
The bulk of the game is your typical top-down vertical shoot em up, with the player blasting air and ground targets with an assortment of weapons. You shoot down targets with your primary weapon, or take out tanks, turrets and buildings with your bombs; the floating reticule on-screen indicates where your bombs will land and, something of a neat touch, updates to indicate targets which the bombs can actually hit. I have to say, this is the most visually appealing and engaging of all the shooters of this particular era Ive played - it looks and feels several years ahead of its time. In fact. my only real complaint is that only a couple of the weapons on offer, namely the Vulcan and Triple are of any real use, and youll struggle to complete most of the levels unscathed if you use anything else.
Following the destruction of an end-of-level boss, the games perspective shifts to a third-person, pseudo-3D section. Here, youre flying a fighter jet into the screen while waves of planes and other hostiles try to take you down. Its not quite up to the sheet spectacle of Segas After Burner (which I suspect Konami must have been trying to outdo here), but its still an impressive effect, nonetheless. In one section, an alien fortress begins to loom on the horizon, scaling and rotating to give the impression of you getting closer; its an effect as clever as it is convincing, and it still manages to look really quite impressive.
For 1987, A-Jax seems to me to be a technical tour de force in the overcrowded shooter genre. It looks and sounds great, plays really well, and is easy to recommend. While I might not have heard of this game before, its definitely made my list of favourite shootem ups - go play it.
Chapters
00:00 Attract mode
00:23 Stage 1
03:18 Stage 2
04:17 Stage 3
08:07 Stage 4
11:20 Stage 5
12:11 Stage 6
16:44 Stage 7
19:54 Stage 8")
![Enduro Racer Longplay (Arcade) [QHD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FtulOhJ05BM/hqdefault.jpg "Enduro Racer Longplay (Arcade) [QHD]
Game Info
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Year of Release: 1986
Game Review & Impressions
Segas super scaler tech meets dirt bike racing in a game which, if Im honest, feels rather lacklustre when compared to other super scaler games. It lacks the raw speed thrills of Hang-On, and OutRun beats this for entertainment value any day of the week.
I guess experiencing a sit-in version of this in the arcade might have been more exciting, but this didnt really do it for me.
#enduroracer
#retrogaming
#sega")
![Potty Pigeon Longplay (C64) [QHD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FuIUHtfdPUk/hqdefault.jpg "Potty Pigeon Longplay (C64) [QHD]
Game Info
Developer: Antony Tony Crowther, Ben Daglish
Publisher: Gremlin Graphics
Year of Release: 1984
Game Review & Impressions
One of the earliest games Tony Crowther created for the fledgling Gremlin Graphics, I was keen to check out more of the C64 programming wunderkinds back catalogue.
The objective of the game is to help Percy, the titular potty pigeon, construct a nest in the boughs of a tree by collecting twigs lying in the middle of a main road. Speeding motor cars risk turning you into a pigeon-shaped smear on the tarmac if youre not careful, and rival birds, planes and other airborne nasties mean the skies are no safer. Successfully constructing the nest awards you bonus points for time remaining on the clock, then propelling you into the next level, increasing the number of enemies as you progress. Theres no actual ending Im aware of, just the typical quest to attain ever-increasing high scores.
Speaking of scores, its possible to bag bonus points by literally crapping on the cars as they drive past. Destroying a car with a dollop of pigeon poo seems like rather extreme, but actually landing one of these defecatory dung packages on target is harder than it looks. Later levels introduce an additional foe in the guise of a bounding dog, and you can crap on this too!
I wasnt expecting too much from this, if Im honest, but I was surprised at how compelling this proved to be. Timing your swoops to grab the twigs from the ground without dying is really tricky, but theres a surprising sense of satisfaction when you manage to pull it off. Coupled with some impressively quick scrolling and astute technical presentation, its not a bad arcade game at all.
Chapters
TBC")
![Shatterhand Longplay (NES) [QHD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FyNL8VA0PKQ/hqdefault.jpg "Shatterhand Longplay (NES) [QHD]
Game Info
Developer: Natsume
Publisher: Jaleco
Year of Release: 1991
Game Review & Impressions
If theres a developer you can trust to deliver a fun third-party experience for the NES, its Natsume. This side-ways scrolling Gaiden em up (is that an actual genre?) is well worth checking out.
Firstly, instead of blasting enemies with the typical array of guns you usually see in a game like this, enemies must be defeated with your cybernetically enhanced fists. Grabbing a power-up capsule will bestow you with even greater fist-smashing capabilities, although this will be lost if you take too much damage.
In addition to your regular melee attacks, special tokens can be collected to unlock special abilities. Each token has a different symbol, and collecting 3 of these will initiate a special attack, which varies on the combination of token symbols collected. This is a pretty cool feature, adding an element of strategy; you need to decide whether you want to grab each and every token you find, or hold out for a particular combination that will help against the challenges ahead.
Overall, Shatter Hand is a fun platformer, and the whole cyberpunk aesthetic gives the game its own identity. Its a tough nut to crack at times, but well worth persevering with
Chapters
TBC")
![Arbalester Longplay (Arcade) [QHD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GYJZMJthdzU/hqdefault.jpg "Arbalester Longplay (Arcade) [QHD]
Game Info
Developer: SETA
Publisher: Jordan Information Service
Year of Release: 1989
Game Review & Impressions
A rather repetitive vertical shoot em up with an incredibly repetitive musical score, Arbalester is a plodding take on the likes of Capcoms 1942. The graphics are reasonably well realised, and dog fighting with flying fortresses over the ocean is quite cool, but the game is really just too dull to recommend.
Oh, and it also has a slight problem in that the programmers appeared to omit offset calculations on your shots when moving your craft; they move relative to your position, which is just daft.
Chapters")
![Santa Claus Jr. Advance Longplay (Game Boy Advance) [4K]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Gb2U3WK5sJg/hqdefault.jpg "Santa Claus Jr. Advance Longplay (Game Boy Advance) [4K]
Game Info
Developer: Neon Studios
Publisher: JoWooD Productions
Year of Release: 2002
Game Review & Impressions
I was looking for inspiration for a suitable festive game to cover this holiday period, when I stumbled across this particular title. I remembered JoWooD created the Industry Giant games on PC back in the early 2000s, so I was curious to see what Santa Claus Jr. was like - was it be any good, or would it be mediocre gaming fodder left to lingering at the bottom of the Game Boy bargain bin?
As a matter of fact, I was very pleasantly surprised. Santa Claus Jr. Advance is a no-nonsense, simple platform game thats ideal for kids; it looks stunning, and the fact it contains so many levels means this would have made a great accompaniment for anyone receiving a Game Boy Advance in their Christmas stockings. The game is actually a sequel of sorts to Santa Claus Jr., which launched on the Game Boy Color only a year prior - the two games are similar conceptually, the Advance version is a massive step up in terms of graphics.
Story-wise, a wicked witch has turned Santas toys into viscious monsters and its up to young Nick to aid Santa in delivering presents to children scattered around each of the games 36 levels. Each stage contains a set number of presents to deliver, and whilst I dont think its mandatory to find all the children, completionists will probably enjoy scoring 100% in each area. Its great to see the designers include a series of tutorial levels to help explain the mechanics and controls to the player, and Id recommend plaything through these before embarking on the main adventure.
Speaking of controls, the only real gripe I have is with the game is the double-jump mechanic. Because you need to release and depress the jump button to bounce higher on balloons and certain platforms, its too easy to trigger the double-jump and waste star power used to power your abilities. Its just a little bit fiddly, which becomes more problematic in later levels where levels feature more hazards and are generally more maze-like.
This isnt a Mario-beater, but I enjoyed my time with the game. The graphics, colour palette and general gameplay reminded me of James Pond II: RoboCod, and I dont consider that a bad thing. If youre looking for family-frieldly platformer this Yuletide, Santa Claus Jr. Advance is worth a look.
Merry Christmas!
Chapters
00:00:00 Title screen
00:00:30 Tutorials
00:03:46 Main game
01:19:03 Final boss & ending")
![Metal Slug 3 Longplay (Neo Geo) [QHD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HCSiCRwrc7g/hqdefault.jpg "Metal Slug 3 Longplay (Neo Geo) [QHD]
Game Info
Developer: SNK
Publisher: SNK
Year of Release: 2000
Game Review & Impressions
Set an number of years following the antics of Metal Slug 2, series antagonist General Morden tries, once again, to overthrow world governments with another display of military might. Having allied himself with a force of extra-terrestrial invaders, Modern hopes their combined forces will deliver the knock-out blow to world order he has so desperately longed for.
Unfortunately, the aliens have other ideas, betraying Morden, taking the despotic General hostage and leaving his forces in disarray. With humankinds existence on the line once again, Marco and Tarma of the Peregrine Falcon Strike Force, assisted by Eri and Fio of the S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S. special intelligence force, engage in a series of frantic run-and-gun battles with mutant crabs, bile-spewing zombies, not to mention ray-gun toting jellyfish xenomorphs, in a bid to save Earth from certain destruction.
Given the mainstream adoption and relative maturity of 3D by 2000, the Neo Geo, a console already a decade old by this point, somehow managed to extend its life, carving out a niche by specialising in what it does best. That niche is some of the best 2D sprite-based pixel art to ever grace our monitors; Metal Slug 3 looks absolutely incredible.
In terms of new features, Metal Slug regulars Marco and Tarma are joined by series newcomers Eri Kasamoto and Fiolina Fio Germi, boosting the total number of playable characters to four. New mechanised Slug vehicles are added to the mix, and branching paths are added for the first time, providing players with different routes through each of the games levels.
The gameplay mechanics, however, remain unchanged. Every level consists of blowing up legions of enemies with increasingly ludicrous weapons, rescuing hostages, and dealing with some of the most ludicrous end-of-level bosses ever conceived for a video game. Its pure, unadulterated Metal Slug which, by itself, is no bad thing.
However, I think its fair to say that, in the quest to give the game a sense of identity, Metal Slug 3 is a less cohesive experience overall. The series was always somewhat off-the-wall, but the inclusion of zombies, mutant crabs, not to mention the weird ice cave full of yetis and war mammoth, all feel out of place. The sense of fighting against an alien menace is absent right up until mission 4, thus feeling like yet more daubs and random brush strokes that fail to coalesce into any meaningful image on an already-saturated and gaudy canvas. The second-to-second play is great fun, but the sheer amount of random stuff in this game does it no favours, at least in my opinion.
In conclusion, Metal Slug 3 is an exceptionally stunning game and definitely worth playing, but the late arrival of the aliens as an actual threat result in a game with an incongruous narrative that feels slightly jarring. Its a fun game, just one that, in my opinion, could have been better.
Chapters
00:00 Attract mode
01:57 Mission 1
07:01 Mission 2
16:22 Mission 3
23:55 Mission 4
32:53 Mission 5
1:04:34 Ending
#metalslug3 #neogeo #retrogaming")
![RoboCop 2 Longplay (Amstrad GX4000) [QHD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HFhgwQABFYE/hqdefault.jpg "RoboCop 2 Longplay (Amstrad GX4000) [QHD]
Game Info
Developer: Ocean Software
Publisher: Ocean Software
Year of Release: 1990
Game Review & Impressions
The Amstrad GX4000 didnt enjoy much in the way of software support in its limited lifespan, but Ocean released a conversion of RoboCop 2 for the 8-bit console in 1990.
It makes sense Ocean would choose a big-name franchise, given theyd already developed various versions for other home platforms, and the GX4000 version combines elements of the C64 cartridge release, plus some features from the 16-bit Amiga/Atari ST ports. The result is a game which, visually at least, looks pretty stunning - the background artwork makes good use of the Amstrad colour palette here, beating anything seen on the Spectrum or C64 at this point, and the hardware scrolling is a welcome addition too.
Its a real shame then, that the actual game sucks so badly. For some reason, Ocean decided this should be a platform game, rather than an action shooter, and they might as well not bothered giveng RoboCop a gun, seeing as there are roughly 10 bad guys to shoot in the whole game, including the end boss the crap shooting gallery interludes dont count.
Aside from the fact that having a 6-foot lump of titanium leap between platforms was pretty ridiculous to begin with, it gets worse when you factor in the environmental hazards and other traps which literally festoon the entire game. Piledriving spikes, coil springs and waterfalls of boiling liquid will all kill RoboCop instantly. The timing and precsion required to bypass these pitfalls makes this the most demanding platformer Ive played since China Miner, and thats saying something.
Personally, the only parts of the game which was really any good were the memory bank puzzles. These work very much the same as the 16-bit versions, requiring the player to navigate around a PCB collecting integrated circuids while avoiding the large memory chips. However, the added twist in the GX4000 versions is the ability to shift tiles of the grid horizontally and vertically, opening new paths. This could have been the kernel of a decent puzzle game, given half a chance.
The Amstrad GX4000 was late to the party to begin with, and with a dearth of software for the console to begin with, it didnt help matters when games like RoboCop 2 were being trundled out as the cream of the crop for the system. It looks brilliant for sure, but most players wont get off the first screen, let alone the first level. Its a real shame, because Id love to have seen what the console could really do, given half a chance.
Chapters
00:00 Attract mode & music
03:17 Stage 1
08:46 Stage 2
11:47 Stage 3
13:15 Stage 4
19:38 Stage 5
21:47 Stage 6
23:08 Stage 7
29:13 Ending")
![Avengers in Galactic Storm Longplay (Arcade) [4K]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HI--KAcOwDw/hqdefault.jpg "Avengers in Galactic Storm Longplay (Arcade) [4K]
Game Info
Developer: Data East
Publisher: Data East
Year of Release: 1995
Game Review & Impressions
The MCU juggernaut might have made Avengers a household name, but the Marvel franchise has always had place in popular culture throughout the decades, no more so than video games. Avengers in Galactic Storm hit the arcades in 1995, a release by Data East that introduced the concept of assist characters to help players out when the going gets tough.
Whereas Capcom games focused on beautifully drawn pixel art, Avengers uses pre-rendered 3D models. The overall visual style is, therefore, much closer in tone to Rares Killer Instinct, and to give Data East credit, the characterisations of the ensemble cast of Avengers all look pretty good. There are, however, some weird side effects with the parallax and background sprites, which float around as though theyre not anchored to the ground, which cant be unseen once you notice them.
As for the gameplay, its surprisingly decent. I wouldnt say Data East were particularly renowned for their versus fighting games, but I quite enjoyed my time with this. Each combatant has light and strong punch and kick attacks, various combos, grapples and special moves, each of which connect with satisfyingly meaty thuds and crunches. Landing attacks and blocking blows fills up your Special gauge, which can used to summon your battle partner in a supporting role, or unleash an extra powerful Ultimate attack. I dont think the mechanics are as refined as anything Capcom or SNK were putting out during this period, but its not bad at all!
If youre a fan of Marvel comics, Avengers in Galactic Storm is definitely worth a shot. The graphics probably dont hold up as well as games with traditional sprite artwork of the era, but overall presentation is good. Fighting fans should find plenty to like here.
Information & Trivia
- All fighters are voiced by Jon St. Jon of Duke Nukem fame, and Lani Minella
Chapters
00:00 Attract mode
01:00 Story Mode
07:38 Versus Mode")
![Panther Longplay (C64) [QHD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HaKOZWllBMg/hqdefault.jpg "Panther Longplay (C64) [QHD]
Game Info
Developer: Peter Adams
Music: David Whittaker
Publisher: Mastertronic
Year of Release: 1986
Game Review & Impressions
I recorded this 3 years ago and just never got around to publishing it, Panther is a combination of Zaxxon, Defender and Choplifter. The objective is rescue as many scientists stranded in each level as possible, flying them to safety at one of the various command bunkers located on each level.
Your rescue attempt wont go unchallenged, however. You need to shoot down enemy attack craft before they can blow you out of the sky, which is far more difficult than it should be. The inclusion of Z-axis for height elevation means you have to adjust your crafts height to the correct level in order to actually hit anything, and its a constant annoyance in an otherwise nifty budget game. It doesnt help that you can only shoot one set of projectiles at a time; youre totally exposed if you actually miss.
The game has no ending and stages loop once youve seen all of them.
Chapters
TBC")
