hg101

Top Hunter

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

A colorful two player action game for the Neo Geo, sort of like Treasure by way of SNK.

POW: Prisoners of War

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

More SNK beat-em-up coverage, this one provides you with some additional firepower as it makes you escape from an armed prison camp.

Robo Army

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

SNK's Neo Geo beat-em-up Robo Army sits comfortably between the disaster of 1990's Ninja Combat and 1991's cult favorite Mutation Nation both chronologically and in quality.

Burning Fight

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

Another beat-em-up from SNK, this one is marginally better than Gang Wars, though it doesn't really do anything better than Final Fight already did.

Gang Wars

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

We'll be spending the next week covering SNK/ADK beat-em-ups, so here's the first one, Gang Wars, which borrows liberally from films like The Warriors, anything featuring Jackie Chan, and assorted other martial arts movies.

Nippon Safes Inc / Big Red Adventure

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/dynabite/nipponsafes.htm

Two adventure games from Italian developer Dynabyte, starring three protagonists, and each focusing on caricatures of Japanese and Russian culture.

These games were actually featured in the HG101 adventure game book, but the reviews are pretty short, and were not posted on the site. These reviews are totally new and much m...

An Interview with Enix programmer Toru Hidaka

From the Untold History of Japanese Game Developers DVD. An interview with Toru Hidaka, a programmer who worked primarily with Enix. Also shows how graphics were drawn on the PC-88 with Hidaka-san's tools.

Total Conversion: Tomb Raider vs. Tomb Raider Anniversary

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/totalconversion/tombraider/tombraider.htm

As Xbox One users are playing the new 

Rise of the Tomb Raider

, we take a look back at the series' roots instead and examine how Crystal Dynamics interpreted them in 2007 when they created 

Tomb Raider Anniversary

.

An Interview with Yoshiro Kimura

From the Untold History of Japanese Game Developers DVD. An interview with Yoshiro Kimura (of Love de Lic, who worked on Rule of Rose, Chulip, and more).

Evil Hazard

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

Evil Hazard

 looks like a typical indie 8-bit style side-scroller at a glance, but offers a very challenging experience despite being a little rough around the edges

Mommy's Best Action Pack

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

Four action games from Mommy's Best Games, previously only available on the XBLIG, are now available on Steam - Weapon of Choice, Shoot1up, Explosionade and Game Type. All are inspired by classic side-scrollers and shoot-em-ups, with uniquely bizarre visual stylings and silly dialogue.

Fighter and Attacker

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

A fairly average shooter from Namco, mostly known for its large selection of ships, and hardcore rave music courtesy of Shinji Hosoe and and Takayuki Aihara.

(1991) Hudson Computer Designers School Graduation Album

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/hudsonschool/hudson.htm

These images are from a game CD for the PC Engine CD-ROM2, made by students at Hudson's Hokkaido game design school. The disc was never meant for public release, but is a fascinating treasure trove of historical information. In the game, players are able to walk around the Hudson school and chat with various game development staf...

Shantae

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

Wayforward's series about a purple haired half-genie takes pages out of several classic action-platformers like Castlevania II: Simon's Quest and Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap.

Your Weekly Kusoge: Arabian Nights

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

Not even pioneering episodic direct to download games could save this failed attempt by schlocky French developer Silmarils at supplanting the failed 

Prince of Persia 3D

.

Compile Design Documents - Guardian Legend, MUSHA, and Aleste Gaiden.

From the Untold History of Japanese Game Developers DVD. Some shots of design documents and design sketches for various Compile games.

Darklands

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

A highly complex and serious RPG / medieval adventuring simulation set in Germany.

Drac's Night Out

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

Our Halloween week coverage wraps up with a look at this unreleased NES game from Parker Brothers, starring the Belmont's famous nemesis.

Golly! Ghost!

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

A ticket redemption light gun game from Namco, which uses some cool technical tricks to impose digital ghosts on top of a diorama of a house.

(Sorry for the late Patreon post, this was actually up two days ago, but some reason Patreon has been having sporadic issues linking the URLs correctly!)

October 2015 Patreon supported

Thank you so much for the support this month!

Laser Ghost

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

Sega's shooting gallery Ghostbusters parody included a set of mirrors that made it seem like you were shooting lasers through your viewfinder.

Mad Panic Coaster

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

This obscure Japan-only PS1 game sends you riding through over a dozen crazy, totally unsafe roller coaster rides.

Escape from Monster Manor

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

This rather simple first person shooter might be the first original FPS released on a console (the 3DO), though in spite of its haunted house theme, it's not terribly good.

Nightmare in the Dark

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

Our Halloween week coverage kicks off with this derivative of Snow Bros. sets itself apart with some great animation and appropriately spooky artwork.

Coming in November! HG101 Presents: The 200 Best Video Games of All Time

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/200bestgames/200bestgames.htm

$5+ Patreon supporters get a free PDF, as usual! Probably going to include some discount coupons for you guys to order it from the printing house, since the color version will retail for $35 (it's 214 pages long!) The B&W version will substantially cheaper, of course.

Your Weekly Kusoge: Depth Dwellers

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

Everybody and their mother had to put out a first person shooter after id Software's Wolfenstein 3D and Doom hit the gaming scene. Some companies made decent efforts, but others...

Video: Ninja Spirit

Irem's high flying, ninja slicing game draws inspiration from many sources, but it's quite an excellent title, especially its Turbografx-16 port.

Read the review here:

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

Let's Play - Christopher Columbus is an Idiot - Act 1 Part 1 (w/director's commentary)

The first part of the first act of Hardcore Gaming 101's unfinished (but still playable) point and click adventure game, Christopher Columbus is an Idiot.

Download here:

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

500 Word Indies: Ghost Blade

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

The latest shoot-em-up from Hucast has been released for the Dreamcast takes after Cave's games, but pushes the 15+ year old hardware more than it can handle.

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/wolfenstein/wolfenstein5.htm

It is 1946 again, and BJ Blazkowicz continues his neverending fight against the Nazis, in this latest tale of a certain fictitious German castle.