Erik Twice Reviews: Overwatch!

[Ivo]

Ok Your reviews are short pieces and I only have pedantic criticism: basically you should be a bit more careful with some details.

In the GnG article, the annoying Devil guy is the Red Arremer or perhaps the Red Reamer (you put in Red Amer).

In the Rodland article you mentioned defeating enemies involves hitting them with a mallet. This is incorrect: the girls have magic wands (or rods, probably given the name to the game) that can hold the monsters (only one at a time, if I recall). You usually defeat monsters by repeatedly smashing THEM against the ground.
You can notice this clearly as if you don't smash a monster he is held in place for a few seconds (this is often strategically what you want to do, as you mentioned it is often better to not clear the monsters to get bonuses), and the screenshot you put in just above the paragraph where you mention the mallet shows this. When you do crowd control, as you mentioned at the end of that paragraph, what you do is that you are hammering all the other monsters with the one you are holding (which I think is pretty neat)!

[lisalover1]

I already commented on your post about Rod-Land on Snackbar, but I'll just say it again here: I'm really glad people are still talking about this game; it deserves it. It's definitely one of the best Bubble Bobble clones out there. In fact, I would say it's superior to the source material!

[jinx]

I've never heard of Rod Land until now. This sparked up my curiosity, and I looked up a few other reviews here at work. Heading home in an hour and I plan on downloading it to give it a shot. Too bad it's such a rare game, I'd love to own a physical copy just for it's unique charm.

[Erik_Twice]

Ok Your reviews are short pieces and I only have pedantic criticism: basically you should be a bit more careful with some details.[snip]

You are right on both counts. Though I'm sure Red Arremer's real name is a long chain of expletives and various insults

(I wonder where the english name comes from since the original was named after someone in Capcom)

It's definitely one of the best Bubble Bobble clones out there. In fact, I would say it's superior to the source material!

That's quite the endorsement! Not that you are wrong

Too bad it's such a rare game, I'd love to own a physical copy just for it's unique charm.

The computer versions can't be rare and they look pretty good so I would chase those versions. While it's how I played the game, the NES version doesn't look too good.

[jinx]

Too bad it's such a rare game, I'd love to own a physical copy just for it's unique charm.

The computer versions can't be rare and they look pretty good so I would chase those versions. While it's how I played the game, the NES version doesn't look too good.

Ah okay. I misread the article as though all versions were rare, and took a quick look around the interwebs and saw no mention of the game for purchase. I'll have to take another look around when I have more time.

[Ivo]

Ok Your reviews are short pieces and I only have pedantic criticism: basically you should be a bit more careful with some details.[snip]

You are right on both counts. Though I'm sure Red Arremer's real name is a long chain of expletives and various insults

(I wonder where the english name comes from since the original was named after someone in Capcom)

I think it is likely it comes from the tools named reamer, and the sound of Arremer being similar:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictiona ... 1366210371
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reamer
the tools in turn must be the source for expressions such as "He got reamed" which is where I know the term from (and fits what usually happens to Arthur when that Devil is around).

It's definitely one of the best Bubble Bobble clones out there. In fact, I would say it's superior to the source material!

Too bad it's such a rare game, I'd love to own a physical copy just for it's unique charm.

I never really considered it a clone of Bubble Bobble, although it does share a bunch of similarities: single screen platformer featuring a non-lethal capture before killing enemies and geared for co-op (with sibling protagonists), with a similar kind of story and if I recall spelling a word (in this case, EXTRA) to get Extends.

It is the same type of game as Bubble Bobble and Parasol Stars, certainly, but I would use clone more for games like Super Methane Bros.

In any case, Rod Land is far more balanced in terms of difficulty (at least the Amiga version is). I think Bubble Bobble has more "magic" in the fundamental gameplay, power ups and level design though (not being able to jump in a platform game - despite the magical stairs - may be part of why I feel this way). So overall, even if Rodland may be a better game it would be IMO mostly only because Bubble Bobble is (due to its age?) unreasonably hard. Even though Rod Land is also an arcade game, I think the extra years may have contributed significantly for the developers to make the difficulty a bit more accessible than that of Bubble Bobble.

I used to play it on the Amiga, which is a really good version and getting some floppies should not be too hard. But Amiga computers are not particularly accessible I guess.

[Erik_Twice]

Covered Chicago Express, a very nice boardgame about trains that I've wanted to write about for a while.

I think I'll have the controversial "Games critics should play" for Sunday but pictures are so much of a pain I can't say for sure...

[Erik_Twice]

My latest feature, "40 games critics should play", is controversial enough to get its own thread in Games as Culture (viewtopic.php?f=45&t=42717). So if you wan to insult me, do it there, it will be more confortable for the two of us

[Erik_Twice]

My blog was wounded for several days and I was awfully close to losing everything but it's back and it has new (old) articles!

Adventure is one of the few Atari 2600 worth playing today and the game I would recommend to anyone tired of cutscenes and the forced, pretentious plots of modern gaming:
Four kB is all you need for an Adventure

My first Flashback issue! I'm slowly updating my blog to include them.
Heading into the wild, free Wasteland

Tell me what you think

[Erik_Twice]

Hosting problems and having to send my computer to repairs have left me one week behind schedule but I'm trying to inch my time back.

Third part of my list of 40 games critics should play. This article is very hard to write, there's not enough work done and gaming history is incredibly fuzzy. I don't think it turns out great but I'm learning a lot writing this:
http://eriktwicereviews.com/feature-40- ... ay-pt-iii/