hg101

Valhalla

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/valhalla/valhalla.htm

Another British adventure game obscurity from the early years of the ZX Spectrum, Valhalla is more notable for the high ambitions of the four man development team rather than the actual result.

Nazo Puyo

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/puyopuyo/puyopuyo6.htm

Our renewed Puyo Puyo article finally continues, with a prolific set of spin-off titles that focus on predefined conundrums to solve in place of the multiplayer antics of the mainline series.

Preview: HG101 Presents Data East Arcade Classics

HG101 Presents: Data East Arcade Classics is almost complete! I'm awaiting approval from the printer then ordering a physical proof, just to do final checks and make one last editing run to make sure everything is up to snuff. In the meantime, I've posted a preview PDF of the book in its entirety. It isn't properly formatted for tablets like I've done with the other books and the compression is a little higher to make for a smaller file, but baring any further edits or typo fixes it's basically ...

500-Word Indies: Spirits of Xanadu

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/500wordindies/500wordindies-spiritsofxanadu.htm

A sci-fi horror exploration game, for those who can't get enough of System Shock or Dead Space.

ROM Hack Interview: FuSoYa

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/fusoya/fusoya-interview.htm

An interview with the ROM hacker behind Lunar Magic, the level design program for Super Mario World.

Synnergist

A cyberpunk FMV/point-and-click adventure that is technically a fascinating mess, but more often than not its shortcomings work accidentally in its favor.

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/synnergist/synnergist.htm

Vectorman

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/vectorman/vectorman.htm

An action-platformer that is not only a worthy competitor to Nintendo's 

Donkey Kong Country trilogy, but also a game that perfectly encapsulates what 90s Sega was all about.

Warlocked

A real time strategy game developed for the Game Boy Color, that's not only surprisingly good, but one of the best exclusive games on the platform.

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/warlocked/warlocked.htm

Fallout

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/fallout/fallout.htm

An exhaustive look at the legendary post-apocalyptic RPG series, begun by Black Isle Studios and continued by Bethesda, including its spin-offs and cancelled titles.

Pepper's Adventures in Time

A cute and clever educational point-and-click game from Sierra, where you play a young girl and her dog, traveling back in time and fixing things that have gone astray in colonial America.

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/pepper/pepper.htm

Broforce

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/broforce/broforce.htm

Do you love America? Do you love movies where muscular, poorly acting men shoot evil in the face? If you said yes to one of these two questions, you are going to love 

Broforce

.

The Banner Saga 2

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/bannersaga/bannersaga2.htm

The follow-up to the tactical indie hit is technically more of the same, but that's not really a bad thing.

Pharaoh Rebirth

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/pharaohrebirth/pharaohrebirth.htm

An excellent Metroidvania from long-standing doujin studio Krobon, featuring a rabbit archaeologist exploring a pyramid.

June 2016 patron supported

Thank you so much for the support this month!

Paladin's Quest / Lennus

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/lennus/lennus.htm

A duo of grindy SNES JRPGs by Copya System, with some bizarre art design that's unlike anything the genre has seen before, and a characteristically strange translation.

Kaze no NOTAM

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/kazenonotam/kazenonotam.htm

A hot-air balloon simulator from Artdink, a minor developer perhaps best known for making experimental games that initially received a lukewarm reception, like Aquanaut's Holiday and Tail of the Sun...

Samurai Shodown Slash

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/samuraishodown/samuraishodown8.htm

An infinite runner for mobile platforms starring some of the characters from SNK's seminal fighting series. It was only released in Korea, though service has been disabled and is no longer playable.

Dark Earth

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/darkearth/darkearth.htm

A post-apocalyptic steampunk RPG that had the misfortune of launching against larger titles like Fallout and Final Fantasy VII, this French-developed title has clumsy combat but a fascinating game world.

Your Weekly Kusoge: Quiver

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/kusoge/kusoge-quiver.htm

In the running of the sad title of "most mediocre Doom clone", Quiver was developed for low-spec systems, even though Doom could run comfortably on a low end 486.

HG101 at Too Many Games in Oaks, PA, from June 24-26th

http://blog.hardcoregaming101.net/2016/06/hg101-at-too-many-games-in-oaks-pa-from.html

I'll be at Too Many Games in Oaks, PA on the weekend of June 24-26th, 2016, manning a table in the dealer's room. Here I'll be selling copies of all seven of our books, plus both volumes of the Untold History of Japanese Game Developers, for prices lower than what you can ge...

Cosmic Cavern 3671 on Steam Greenlight

http://blog.hardcoregaming101.net/2016/06/the-realm-of-early-japanese-computer.html

The realm of early Japanese computer gaming is not widely documented, especially on the English internet, but it's something that we at HG101 take huge interest in. So that's why it's worth checking out Cosmic Cavern 3671 (宇宙最大の地底最), which was recently posted on  2016-06-20 02:27:50 +0000 UTC View Post

Racing Lagoon

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/racinglagoon/racinglagoon.htm

Developed during Square's daring PS1 days, Racing Lagoon is a combination of an arcade racer and an RPG, inspired by the popular anime/manga series Initial D.

bit Generations Pt. 2

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/bitgenerations/bitgenerations2.htm

The second (and final, for now) part of this article covering the old school/artsy GBA games covers COLORIS, ORBITAL, DIGIDRIVE, and Soundvoyager.

Hardcore Gaming 101 - Life is Strange

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/lifeisstrange/lifeistrange.htm

Starring a young woman with the power to rewind time, Life is Strange's point-and-click DNA is easy to spot, but it turns all of these toward telling a story that's more about longing, regret, and ordinary life, than fighting an Evil Empire.

A Look at the Japanese Game Preservation Society

A look at the Japanese Game Preservation Society's laboratory in Tokyo, as guided by Joseph Redon. This organization works to preserve Japan's software, which, like software from all over the globe, was initially distributed on rather fragile medium.

A chat with Hifumi Kono, Masaki Higuchi, and Masatoshi Mitori of Human Entertainment

From the Untold History of Japanese Game Developers DVD. A chat with Hifumi Kono, Masaki Higuchi, and Masatoshi Mitori. Higuchi and Kono worked on Clock Tower.

Tumblepop

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/tumblepop/tumblepop.htm

A goofy, rainbow-colored single screen platformer from Data East, Tumblepop combines two popular arcade titles from the early 90s, Pang and Snow Bros. Also includes reviews of its spiritual sequels, Diet Go-Go and Joe & Mac Returns.

Gone Home

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/gonehome/gonehome.htm

Causing a flurry of controversy when it was released in 2013, Gone Home is an emotionally impactful exploratory adventure game, one that kicked off the subgenre semi-derisively known as the "walking simulator".

Demon Front

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/demonfront/demonfront.htm

Taiwan-based developer IGS is primarily known for their PolyGame Master arcade hardware, and along with it, a whole slew of 

Final Fight

-style beat-em-ups. 

Demon Front

, release on 2002, veers away from that direction though, and instead pays homage/rips off SNK's Metal Slug.

Gangsters: Organized Crime

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/gangsters/gangsters.htm

This overlooked strategy game is essentially "SimCapone", a gangland simulator as deep and palatable as a barrel of bootleg rum. Also followed up by a less ambitious sequel.