I created the synopsis pages and 18+ galleries for The Cheerleaders (1973) and added the synopsis page for The Dungeonmaster (1984). I also started laying out all of the Shin Megami Tensei games on the backend to get them back up. Unfortunately, all of the written content for them is gone so I am creating everything from the ground up again, which takes a TON of time. I also started fleshing out some of the weekly finds more than I had before. I really need to cut back on some of them, but this was a good week.
Weekly Finds
I pull a lot of the items about gaming and movie news here from a number of sources: The Atari Age forums, Retro Indie News, Time Extension, IGN, Retro Hour podcast, Itch.io, Facebook, Twitter, etc. What shows up here will change weekly depending on what I happen to find in the wild. I try to include the original sources in the links.
Beyond Shadowgate
Beyond Shadowgate is an authorized sequel to the NES version of Shadowgate.
Repugnant Bounty
Repugnant Bounty is a Metroidvania game for the Game Boy Color created in GB Studio. It’s $14.99 CAD.
Dead Horizon
Dead horizon is modern adventure game with interesting choices, captivating characters, and …rail shooting elements… Sign me up!
Spritemancer
Spritemancer was released a short while ago, but I somehow missed it in the millions of projects on Itch that are released seemingly every day. But it looks like a damn cool tool for creating and animating sprites and effects. At the time of writing, it is 25% off. Its normal price is 29.95.
Mighty Castle Adventure coming to Amstrad CPC (Indie Retro News)
Mighty Castle Adventure is an ode to Castlevania and is being developed for the Amstrad CPC.
Zeta Wing II for the Commodore 64
Sarah Jane Avory released new information on the follow-up to her 2020 Commodore 64 shmup Zeta Wing. Her twitter is a fascinating follow, too.
Shelley Duvall on disappearing from and returning to Hollywood
Like many people, I’ve been captivated by Shelley Duvall. From the woman who was destined to play Olive Oyl and abused on the set of the Shining to a recluse far from the prying eyes of fame, she is a mystery. She’s in a new film, The Forest Hills, and it looks to be a scary-fun romp through the woods.
First Person Grid Movement with Unity 3D
The author of this tutorial referenced it in the Ultima 5 Redux update announcement on Facebook, and I thought it was a pretty cool article for developers who might want to make a dungeon crawler. He wrote it in 2021, but it was new to me.
Ultima 5 Redux – Behavior and Graphics Overhaul
Ultima 5 Redux is coming along nicely! Brad Hannah details the specific behaviors and graphical details (like a 3D perspective) that have made its way into the game.
Shaman – for Commodore 64 (Indie Retro News)
Classic shoot-em-up action for the COMMODORE 64 with some unseen elements or features included that only those who possess the shaman’s eye shall discover.
Super Star Trek (1979) Remake
From the website:
This free fan game is a remake/conversion of the 1978 strategy game Super Star Trek reimagined with the UI of one of my favorite games ever: Star Trek 25th Anniversary.
Geo’s Quest 2 In Search of Queen Lorraine for Amiga (Indie Retro News)
From Aminet:
This is the completed (finally) version of my Graphic Adventure Geo’s Quest “In Search of Queen Lorraine”.
Pentacorn Quest for ZX Spectrum (Indie Retro News)
Find the five golden acorns in this adventure platform game for the ZX Spectrum.
Daily Drop Roundup
Time Pilot (1982)
February 19, 2023
Time Pilot is an arcade vertical time-travel shooter from Konami where players blast planes and rescue pilots across various time periods. According to the designer, it only exists because he had his programmer work on it in secret instead of the driving game his boss wanted.
Carrie (1974)
February 20, 2023
Carrie was published in 1974, and was Stephen King’s first published novel. It revolved around a teenage girl from an abusive home who discovered she has telekinetic powers. She uses them to exact revenge upon the bullies and her mother who have tormented her.
Oldsmobile
February 21, 2023
Oldsmobile was a division of General Motors and was quite popular in the early to mid 1980s. It was formally shuttered in 2004.
Super Elastic Bubble Plastic (B’loonies)
February 22, 2023
Super Elastic Bubble Plastic came in a tube with a straw. Squeeze the plastic onto the end of the straw and blow to create large plastic bubbles. It was eventually discontinued due to children inhaling toxic fumes through the straws.
Monica Lewinsky
February 23, 2023
Monica Lewinsky and her blue dress became a late-night punchline and presidential scandal. She had sexual encounters with then President Bill Clinton. She published a book about the scandal from her perspective and participated in a number of talk shows.
McD.L.T.
February 24, 2023
One side cool and crisp, the other side hot and meaty. No, it’s not the dating pool at the gym. It’s the McDLT from McDonalds.
Sadomania (1981)
February 25, 2023
Sadomania was released in 1981 and depicted a couple captured and tortured on the property of Magda Urtado, who keeps half-naked female slaves to torture. It starred Ajita Wilson, a trans sexploitation actress of the 1970s and 1980s.
Weekly Tears
Richard Belzer (1944-2023)
Richard Belzer was an actor and comedian best known for John Munch on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He began working in stand-up comedy at the beginning of his career in New York, and in the process met a large number of comedians. He created the skit comedy film The Groove Tube as well as opening on Saturday night Live using his connections in the comedy world. He also opened for Warren Zevon’s Excitable Boy tour.
He passed away on February 19, 2023.
Tohru Okada (1949-2023)
Tohru Okada was the keyboardist for the Japanese group Moonriders, but is mostly known in the West as the creator of the PlayStation opening logo creator.
Listen to the Moonriders on Spotify.
He passed away on February 14, 2023