Retro Game Friday: BattleTanx

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m covering a game that I have been meaning to cover for a long time. It’s BattleTanx!

Plot: The plot of BattleTanx is pretty much nonsense, a plague kills 99.99 of all the women in the world and the rest are held up as feudal ladies that are the leaders of all the various gangs that come after the world went to crap. If you are looking for a really deep story, this isn’t going to satisify you.

Gameplay: Thankfully that wasn’t the point, and the gameplay was. The gameplay is purely Tank vs Tank combat in various locales across the US, such as Chicago, and New York. It was pretty fast paced and fun to play, especially with a friend or two. This also included destructible enviroments, though you could say that took up much of the power that was used in the game. Still it was fun to play as a kid, even if it was a bit violent. Still what kid doesn’t like explosions?

Art: The art has aged incredibly poorly since it was first released, but given that this was released in 1998 for the Nintendo 64 that isn’t too surprising.

Music: I honestly don’t remember much of it. I was too busy talking with my friends while we played.

Overall: A fun game, and if you get the chance to play it with a friend or two it’ll entertain you for a bit, but not too long since games have improved greatly since this was released.

For those who like: Tanks, Explosions, Action, Drama.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Retro Game Friday: Mario Tennis 64

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m back with another Mario game. It’s Mario Tennis 64!

Plot Synopsis: There’s a competition with plenty of familiar faces from various Mario games.

Gameplay: The game was pretty fun, and the physics was actually really well done for it’s time. There were plenty of ways to trick your opponents and it got really hectic when you played with some friends. I remember trying to trick my friends by constantly switching between the different returns and them getting more than a bit pissed off about that.

Art: The art sadly has aged really poorly, but that’s to be expected when it’s an N64 game.

Music: Classic Mario, no more need be said.

Overall: A fun game, but definitely not a must play.

For those who like: Sports, Tennis, Mario, Multiplayer.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Retro Game Friday: F-Zero X

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m back with a game that is often overlooked. It’s F-Zero X!

Plot Synopsis: This didn’t have a plot.

Gameplay: This is a high speed racing game ala Wipeout, but with a hell of a lot less forgiveness. You could and were able to destroy your competitors on the race track by bashing them off it to their doom, and that was actually a whole game mode in and of itself. Honestly I had a lot of fun with it, as I’ve always been a bit of a speed freak, it being my go to mode of combat, or in this case racing, in pretty much any game.

Art: The art has aged really poorly, but that’s to be expected with a Nintendo 64 game.

Music: I don’t remember much of it, but it was intense that much I do remember.

Overall: A great game and loads of fun, if you had the reflexes to play it at least.

For those who like: High Speed Games, Racing, Unforgiving Gameplay.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Retro Game Friday: Hey You Pikachu

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m covering a game most people don’t know exists. It’s Hey You Pikachu!

Plot Synopsis: There really isn’t a plot.

Gameplay: You played the game almost exclusively with the included Voice Recognition Unit. Seeing as it’s the one of only 2 games to ever use the peripheral, you can imagine that this was mostly a gimmick game. Honestly there’s really not that much going for this game, as it’s pretty much just like a more kid friendly Seaman game.

Art: Having been made for the Nintendo 64, the art has aged poorly as you might expect.

Music: I don’t remember it, sorry.

Overall: Skip this game, it’s truly a poor excuse for a game that existed just to capitalize on the popularity of Pikachu.

For those who like: Terrible Games, Voice Controls.

Not for those who don’t like: Either of the above.

Retro Game Friday: Mario Golf

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m covering a Mario sub-series that is fairly obscure. It’s Mario Golf!

Plot Synopsis: Wait you’re expecting a plot to a game about Golf? Seriously?

Gameplay: The gameplay is pretty boring, in fact this is a pretty lame game. The game was all about hitting the “sweet spot” by tapping the A button at the correct time while aiming towards the hole. If you could do that successfully and repeatedly, the game quickly devolved into a really boring repetition of that single “mini-game”. Now that isn’t to say this was a terrible game, by all accounts it was great for multiplayer, although I never did convince my friends to play the game with me, because “Golf is boring”, so I can’t confirm or deny that.

Art: The art is quite a bit like it came out of Mario 64, which shouldn’t be a surprise to be honest. That means it’s aged incredibly poorly, and the game looks like crap now a days.

Music: It’s Mario music, but toned down because you’re playing “Golf”.

Overall: Skip this game, it’s really, really not worth going out of your way to even bother playing it.

For those who like: Golf, Sports, Mario, Repetitive Minigames.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.