Tag: retro

E3 2019 Gaming Preview: Valfaris

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New publisher Big Sugar (formerly Digital Uppercut) brought a little extra heavy metal to the recent Electronic Entertainment Expo Show, with a new look at its stylish upcoming side-scroller, Valfaris.

The game looks freakin awesome. Here’s the latest trailer for it…

 

Set in a far corner of space, Valfaris is a heavy metal infused 2D action-platformer. Developed by Steel Mantis, a two-man dev team that previously worked together on Gothic gore fest and love-it-or-hate-it indie hit Slain: Back From Hell, Valfaris transports players to the eponymous space citadel where they must run-and-gun with extreme force to purge the evil that has corrupted it.

“Valfaris is my take on some of the games I loved playing when growing up, such as Gryzor/Contra and Turrican,” explains Andrew Gilmour, the creative driving force behind Valfaris. “Relentless action, cool environments, insane bosses, crazy weapons… those aspects have a timeless quality – they kept me hooked then and are still every bit as appealing to me today. I want to capture that special formula of classic old-school fun with Valfaris.”

Story synopsis- After mysteriously vanishing from galactic charts, the fortress of Valfaris has suddenly reappeared in the orbit of a dying sun. Once a self-contained paradise, the grandiose citadel now plays host to an ever-growing darkness. Therion, a fearless and proud son of Valfaris, returns to his home to uncover the truth of its doomed fate and to challenge the arcane evil at its very heart.

Valfaris’s pixel art is hand-crafted by Andrew Gilmour with a soundtrack by extreme metaller and former Celtic Frost guitarist, Curt Victor Bryant.

Valfaris launches later this year on PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One. For those who can’t wait, sign-up for an upcoming closed beta is available via the Valfaris offical site at valfarisgame.com, or download a demo from the Valfaris Steam page.

Art Book Preview – Dynamite’s upcoming Art of Atari Poster Collection…

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Fans of Atari’s golden age of video gaming, rejoice.

The “Art of Atari, Poster Collection” is coming to the retail bookshelves, soon. Inside, will contain 40 pages of full-color “ready to display” art displays of the classic Atari Games. Dynamite Entertainment will publish as they did their earlier Atari tribute book from last year, Art of Atari. The author of Art of Atari, is also the curator of this new Poster Collection.

Art of Atari, Poster Collection will be available for purchase in retail bookstores and comic stores, this June 2017.

Here is a sneak preview of images featuring some of those Atari game classics:

Water World:

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Millipede:

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Star Raiders:

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Personal thoughts:

This book looks to capture the exact feel of that early 80’s era of colorful pop-art, back when artists were called upon to expand upon the expand upon the simple geometric shapes and minimal happenings of Atari’s vintage games. For fans of that area, I feel this is a must for them. For me, I hope there will be a continuation towards the post-Atari age of the arcade silver era, and the Nintendo 8-bit glory years. The overall art on the adverts and game covers truly had a special feel to them, much like the movie posters of the time. Now to much media, not so much. The covers today are dull and drab, settling for a logo and simple graphic with some intense CGI graphic. Books such as this will preserve the lost times and perhaps inspire new generations, from the lost greatness of gaming’s past.

– Orion T

Special thanks to Dynamite Entertainment and Atari  for providing access to the preview pages. You may follow them for more info and other great books on their official site at www.dynamite.com and www.atari.com

 

MUSIC: A Tiny Spaceship’s Final Mission (FantomenK)

Synopsis (from site):

“A song about a ship which was the earth’s only hope.”

Personal thoughts:

Listen to this tune; reminiscent of the classic 8-bit/16-bit sci-fi shooter era of video gaming, especially of personal favorites – Gradius, R-Type, Forgotten Worlds, Darius Twin. I played these much to the end, for their atmospheric combination of fantastic gameplay, challenge, artistic style, and atmospheric music. For the “Final Mission,” this score brings to mind the constant theme of a sole hero setting out in some speedy spaceship. Ahead, is some threatening adversary for the peace of the universe; probably surrounded by ridiculous overwhelming numbers. The best friends of our hero will be incredible skill, wit, and the occasional power-up (maybe a cheat code if the hero sucks at previous attributes). The best reward will be the mass destruction of enemies and obstacles leading to the cosmic overthreat (is it a giant face or some brain thing?). Then do it again, in “hard” or “expert” mode. Some of this satisfaction will involve insane firepower-ups and a meaningless score of at least ten digits. The sound here, is probably the open stage for our hero. Don’t worry, the first boss will be easy..eventually.

– Orion T