Demo release interview: Sir Arthur’s Spanish cousin

Spanish indie game maker ‘Locomalito’ has just released a demo of his latest ‘big’ game..  The beautifully Ghosts n Goblins-esque Maldita Castilla.  Time for a release-day interview!

But just before we do;  a quick recap.

Just over a year ago,  ‘Loco’ released his biggest game yet – the Gradius-like shmup Hydorah (interview, screenshots). Since that time, he’s released a number of smaller titles, like the Manic Miner-esque L’Abbaye des Morts and he vertically-scrolling gross-em-up Viriax. Both were fantastic, but I had the feeling that they were just entrees compared to the main course of Maldita Castilla .

Now, Locomalito spills the beans on Spanish heroes, dirty monitors, favourite arcade music and the levels you’ll never play…

Indie shmup generates mp3 bullet madness

Ok, this is a bit different.

Shmusicup is a hybrid of a rhythm/music game and a shoot’em up. It’s a vertical scrolling shooter (of the bullet-hell variety) where the enemy bullet patterns are generated by any mp3 chosen from the player’s music collection.

Youtube trailer below.

C’mon baby, do the Locomalito…

You gotta swing your hips now…
(Sorry. Right year – wrong smash hit)

1987.

Around the world, gamers are battling the Bydo empire in Irem’s R-Type. And in a little Spanish arcade… a young boy has made it all the way to the last level! (Respect! I never made it further than level 4. -Ed) He’s excited. He’s hitting the buttons. He’s screaming at the enemies. And all the while, some bemused teenagers are laughing at him. “What a loco-malito!” they said. (If your Spanish is a little rusty, it means “little sick mad kid”.)

Still not dead – the Neo Geo MVS

One of the (very few) regrets of having the lovely ‘player 3’ (now 9 months) in my life is that I haven’t had any time for my other children. Haven’t spent a minute with them, since he arrived. But don’t worry, I’m not talking about humans. I’m talking ‘arcade cabinets’. Here’s one of them…

My 6 slot MVS cabinet

It’s my 6 slot Neo Geo MVS cab. (6 slots = you can choose from 6 games via a menu). My cart collection includes Metal Slug, Puzzle Bobble and Nam 75. Mind you, this photo was ‘pre-baby’… it’s now cooling its digital heels in the garage.

But then you can’t keep the MVS system down. Even though it was released 20(!) years ago, there’s STILL one group left, releasing cartridges for it! NG:Dev. Team released a horizontal shooter (‘Last Hope’) in 2007 for the Neo Geo AES home system, Neo Geo CD & Sega Dreamcast. Reviews were mixed; many referring to it’s punishing difficulty level, and difficult-to-see bullets.

At last, the answer is NOT Tony Danza…

Back in February, I wrote a guestblog on Fairfax Media’s SCREEN PLAY. Opposites Attract was all about games where you get to play “the other”. Not necessarily a baddie – just the opposite of the ‘usual’ role, in a particular genre.

One game I mentioned, Boss Rush, was still ‘in development’ at the time.

BUT NOW IT’S OUT… and ready to play online…

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.

Gradius-esque Game remake Glows with Greatness

Wow.

Double wow.

Storm Assault is a freeware remake/tribute to Gradius, for Windows. The screenshots look amazing. The video looks better than amazing.

Have a look for yourself…

A shmup of cuteness: A Diary of Little Aviator

Just discovered this one via Youtube.

(Deep breath) Flying Red Wine Barrel: A Diary of Little Aviator is a very cute shoot ’em up with graphics similar to the Todd Parr children’s books. (Which I’ve been reading to “Player 3” in utereo.. 3 weeks till baby’s due!)

Several online writeups compare the gameplay to the arcade/dreamcast game Radirgy. I think the graphics also remind me a little of the horizontal shmup Platypus, by Anthony Flack.