Still Stealthy. Still Alive. The Final Ninja.

Here at J-OMG we’ve had a HUGE amount of traffic in recent months to our Final Ninja ‘screenshot comparison‘, but no news.

That’s not good enough.

So I put the makers, Stu & Smila in a small room, shine a light in their faces, and asked the hard questions.

• What’s the ‘latest’ you can tell the fans about Final Ninja?
• Got any screenshots to keep the excitable J-OMG readers at bay?
• How are you going with the improvements you were planning?
• Where we YOU at 7.22pm on April 7th*?

*Just wondering; I lost my keys that night and needed a lift.

Exclusive: First 5 screens from Last Ninja remake

Earlier this year, J-OMG was first with the news that C64 class The Last Ninja was being remade for the PC. This daunting task, was being undertaken by Trevor ‘Smila’ Story and Stu Collier – makers of the Armalyte remake we reviewed back in March.

Today, I’m pleased to present the world’s first look at 5 screens from level 1 of The Final Ninja. To help refresh your memory, I’ve alternated a screenshot from the original title, with the relevant pic from the remake.

And now, on with the show…

News Flash – Armalyte (PC) – WILL be a download!

First of all, thanks to Rock Paper Shotgun for featuring our Armalyte coverage yesterday. If you’ve somehow missed it.. RPS is a top-class blog for PC Gamers, and run by really nice guys to boot.

Now, the news…

In the RPS Armalyte remake comments yesterday, many visitors expressed a disappointment with the lack of a digital download option. (Currently, only a ‘deluxe boxed version’ is available)

This morning, S-A-S programmer StuC gave a quick update on the situation..
“Apparently the publisher has been swamped with ‘can we have a digital download?’, so he’s decided to have one. (It will be released at) a reduced price as a) There’s no packaging b) It will be the game only – no extras. Price TBA, but we’re looking at no more than a fiver (£5/US$7.50). I’ll post more details when I get them.”

Hopefully, the many people preferring a cheaper ‘no frills’ Armalyte option will vote with their credit card/paypal when the time is right…

First review: Armalyte (official PC remake)

If you’re as excited about this game as I am, you want ANSWERS NOW. You don’t want me to explain (again) the plot, basic gameplay or critical reception of this classic Commodore 64 game.

Instead, let’s fire up the remake, and dive right in…

Ten things you didn’t know about Armalyte (C64)

Welcome to ARMALYTE WEEK, here at JustOneMoreGame.

Why Armalyte? Why this week?
Maybe I have something special up my sleeve for you…

Today, here’s 10 things you didn’t know about one of the Commodore 64′s greatest games.

C64 classic The Last Ninja – coming to PC

Awesome news for C64 fans.

Fresh from finishing work on the PC remake of Armalyte (due out in April), well known game remaker Trevor ‘Smila’ Storey, has revealed his latest project. He’s working on a fan remake of System 3′s classy isometric ninja-em-up, The Last Ninja.

So far, all we have is a single screenshot. (And a promise to include ‘better controls’)

Of course, TLN is such a huge game, it’s going to be a big project. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re looking at a 2011 release.

In the meantime, we’ve contacted Smila for some more details – expect an update here soon!

Review: C64 – The Last Amazon Trilogy

Let’s go back… to the days of Informer & Rhythm is a Dancer…

The Last Amazon & its sequel, were originally produced in 1993 for the Psytronik label. Alf Yngve had already made quite a name for himself in the Shoot ‘em up Construction Kit (SEUCK) scene, with playable games that often went beyond the usual expectations. But due to a lack of advertising budget, the Commodore 64′s dwindling market share, and a reluctance in the market to pay for ‘enhanced SEUCK games’, Psytronik’s business model was in real trouble. The Last Amazon games were never finished for commercial release. But instead of simply disappearing, they were distributed free on the front of Commodore Zone magazine.

Fifteen years later, emulation and the internet had both helped to re-invigorate the C64 scene, and Psytronik Software rose from the dead. CEO Jason ‘Kenz’ Mackenzie found the old Amazon games, and in late 2008, set to work on improving them. He added new loading screens. He asked ‘SEUCK powerup maker’ Shaun Coleman to add extra weapons to the Amazon games. (The Shoot em Up Construction Kit never included ‘weapon upgrades’). Richard Bayliss (of Sub Hunter fame) added fancy new frontends to the games, plus some music (in the style of Matt Gray).

If that’s not enough, Last Amazon creator Alf Yngve had another ace up his sleeve. He obtained a copy of Jon Wells’ Sideways SEUCK editor. This modification of the original editor allows the creation of horizontally scolling games. Alf utilised the sprites and background graphics from the first Last Amazon game and created a brand new sideways scrolling ‘Special Edition’. Thus, THE LAST AMAZON TRILOGY was created.

I’m going to review each game individually, starting with the original…

More arcade art for your wall

2009 seems to be the year of “2D classic gaming sprites turned into 3D”.

A few months ago, we brought to your attention some great golden-era arcade-themed artwork (resin castings) by Melissa Jones.

Sevens Heaven also produces some similar 2D-to-3D transformation artwork, except their medium is raytraced posters on canvas.

Armalyte PC remake – more screenshots released…

You may remember JOMG’s exclusive interview with the creators of the upcoming PC version of Armalyte.

This remake of the classic Commodore 64 shmup has been sanctioned by the original rights holders AND it’ll come out in a proper CDROM box.

We must be edging closer to a release date now, with publisher Psytronik releasing a big batch of screenshots. Here’s a few of them…

EXCLUSIVE: Armalyte up my life!

Commodore 64 “shmup” fans rejoice!

An official PC remake of the Commodore 64 classic, Armalyte is in development. This release has been sanctioned by the original rights holders AND it’ll come out in a proper CDROM box.

Yes, I know you’re bursting with questions, and HERE at J-OMG, we’ve got all the answers…