Capcom Revives some Of Their Greats

Capcom showed up at PAX East and decided to drop a bombshell of retro awesome in the form of a few HD remasters.

Einhander: Square's SHMUP Masterpiece

For the longest time, Square has been known exclusively as the "Final Fantasy people" by those who only know them for that long running series. Square is responsible for some awesome titles that aren't even tied to their landmark RPG series, especially during the days of the first Sony Playstation. One of their most underrated titles is a shoot em up that features an interesting play on traditional power up mechanics seen in other titles in the genre, an incredible soundtrack, and visuals that have held up much better than most titles from that console generation.

Einhander, which is German for "single handed" has a rather typical "Earth vs. Somewhere Else" storyline. That "Somewhere Else" in this case being being the Moon, or more specifically, the Moon colony of Selene. The game takes place during the second war between the two factions, with the player controlling a lone fighter from Selene sent to disrupt Earth military activity and be a general nuisance. Everything in this game as far as story goes has been done before, so what makes Einhander such a great experience for Shoot Em Up fans? The victory for Einhander lies in it's gameplay, haunting soundtrack, and it's shadowy visuals.

8-Bit Animal Seal Of Quality...Now On A T-Shirt

So, many readers of this blog have asked about t-shirts and other merchandise being made available so they can show their support. To figure out whether the demand is actually there, We have decided to set up a campaign via teespring.com to make a limited edition shirt bearing the 8bitanimal.com Seal of Quality available to purchase. this campaign will run through February 19th, and they won' ship if the 50 shirt goal isn't met, so go to 8-Bit Seal Of Quality Tee and get yours today.

Recca: The Most Brutally Fun Carnival Ever.

A few moths back, I told you guys about Leon Kiriliuk of NES Reproductions. In that post, I mentioned that I would be getting a game from the site and would report on it. I'm here to report that Mr. Kiriliuk does impressive work, and my copy of Recca: Summer Carnival '92 is as well crafted as any retail release I've ever picked up.
As far as gameplay goes, Recca is a technical marvel as far as NES goes, and even with minor flicker it moves much faster than most Shoot Em Ups released on the venerable console. It's fast, the graphics are vibrant, and the control is incredibly tight. You'll need that tight control, too, since this game is nowhere near easy and enemies come out of the woodwork with little regard for your character's well being. Recca is one of the "Summer Carnival" titles developed by Naxatsoft for use in competitions back when the SHMUP was still king in Japan.
The other titles were all developed for the PC-Engine, making Recca's existence even more noteworthy. Even though my personal copy of Recca is a reproduction cartridge, it doesn't mean official Famicom releases of the game are common. In fact, copies of the Famicom version of Recca fetch as much as $1500 on auction sites. If you're eager to own a physical copy of this awesome title, you should definitely find a donor cart and get it to Leon as soon as possible.

R.I.P. PS2

Sony has recently pulled the plug on their venerable Playstation 2 console. After almost 13 years in production, and almost 150 million units sold, Sony is ceasing production of the console that housed the resurgence of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, allowed Kratos to become the most violent console mascot in history, and provided us with just as many horrible moments as any other console in history (Fugitive Hunter, Anyone?). With that in mind, good night to Sony's Playstation 2, arguably one of the three greatest consoles in history.

Record Of The 16-Bit War: Nintendo, Sony, And Phillips Walk Into A Bar

Today's video takes a look at the history behind the Super NES CD-ROM drive that never happened

Record Of The 16-Bit War: Sonic vs. Mario

Today's video looks at the rivalry between Sonic and Mario