Arcade classic: Robotron 2084

While playing The Binding of Isaac in a friends recently, the topic quickly jumped to classic dual stick shooters, and how seldom we see them as a mainstream release these days. The concept is simple enough; the player uses one 'stick' to push the character around the screen, in whatever direction you chose, while the other stick is used to control the direction of your shooting. Sounds straight forward, but it required a surprising level of dexterity to control both sticks and stay alive. So let's take a stroll back to 1982, when Williams was still one of the reigning champions of arcade action and have a look at the classic Robotron 2084.

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Movie Tie-in #3: Godzilla: Monster of Monsters (NES)

(Nintendo Entertainment System, 1988)

Despite the lack of big screen releases in the 80's, Godzilla was still a popular name among the youth of the world, thanks largely to the constant rotations of the films on TV, the cartoon and of course, the merchandising. Video games seemed like a logical step for Toho, as monsters attacking cities and being bombed by the army would have been perfect fodder for youngsters to dive into with a controller in hand. Also, by the time 1988 had rolled around, Midway's classic arcade button masher, 'Rampage' had already been a huge hit, and was soaking up all those 'giant monster' dollars that Toho hadn't tried to tap into yet.

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Movie tie-in #2: Star Wars - Episode 1 - Racer

(Nintendo 64, 1999)

Despite the fact that Star Wars fans went to town on The Phantom Menace on its release, the huge draw of the title meant that video game fans were to be treated to a cash-in based on the license. Luckily enough, with it being the Star Wars franchise, the game was developed by LucasArts, who had a pretty solid reputation for not just licensed products, but their own original titles, also.

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Movie tie-in #1: Alien 3

 (Mega Drive, 1993)

These days, nearly every kids film, tv show or blockbuster has some form of video game counter-part, and the vast majority of them are garbage. It's definitely not a new thing though, as film licensed games are nearly as old as the video game industry itself, and have gone hand-in-hand with every console generation since the Atari 2600 first hit the shelves. So lets try and weed out the shitty shovelware from the hidden gems as we dive into the world of movie/game tie-ins.


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Celebrating 30 years of Nintendo's Punch-Out!!

"Put him away!"

As this month marks the birthday of one of Nintendo's most fondly remembered arcade and console series, we will take a brief look at the original game that started it all.

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