PixlBit

So today, I downloaded Turok on Switch. It's a gussied up port of the N64 adventure/FPS, with all the good and bad that entails. It honestly probably holds up better than most 5th gen games, running pretty fast and smooth.

I recently got the Atari Flashback Classics for the Switch. This is a complete compilation of all three volumes of Atari Flashback Classics that were released on the PS4 and Xbone, all on one tiny, bad-tasting cartridge. Most of the 2600's library doesn't hold up too well, other than a few games like Yars' Revenge, which is still my favorite, and a lot of the more memorable Atari games are missing because they were licensed from Namco, Taito, Nintendo, and SNK, among others, as well as the fact that there are no Activision games. No Solaris, either (grrrr). They did include a few of the Intellivision games that Mattel ported to the 2600 (you could spot these games because they were basically Intellivision cartridges attaced to a 2600 cartridge slot adapter). But still, I like the classics, though my overwhelming choices are Centipede, Millipede, and Crystal Castles (a game I may write about next time.)

I'm going to make what will, again, probably be my only BaD contribution.

So we're entering another year, with another round of games, another BaD, and another round of GOTY blogs.

Arcade games were the gold standard of video games for over two decades. Dedicated arcade machines could have more sophisticated hardware than home consoles and computers were capable of having without being prohibitively expensive. This situation lasted until the mid-90s, when consoles like the PS1 and N64, as well as PCs, caught up and even surpassed arcade machines. Before then, the ultimate complement that could be paid to a video game was "arcade perfect." The arcades were often proving grounds for new home console technology. Sega used its arcade games in this manner, and Namco's games had hardware based on the PlayStation architecture.

In the early 80s, a little company called Electronic Arts was born. Back then, they were a genuinely good publisher/developer that came up with a lot of innovative new games, before they became the bland corporate machine we've known them as for the past 20 years. One of the first few games ever released by EA was a little gem called Archon.

In 1998, Final Fantasy Tactics got me into strategy RPGs. For years, FFT was the basic template for most console SRPGs. Ten years later, Sega brought the genre into the contemporary generation of consoles in grand style by releasing Valkyria Chronicles in the US.

One of the first video RPGs ever made was Temple of Apshai. Released in 1979 by Epyx, it predates even the 80s gold standards of Wizardry and Ultima.

In a year that has great games like Ni no Kuni 2, Valkyria Chronicles 4, and the promise of many other games on the way, sometimes the simplest surprises on the best.

I've been liking a lot of what Sega is doing these days, especially compared to their spotty track record of years past. We're now getting Yakuza games like clockwork, Valkyria Chronicles is getting a console sequel, they're bringing over a few other games that were stuck in Japan. Maybe it was the acquisition of Atlus and the success of Persona 5 that got Sega going.