1001 Challenge
Ikaruga
Black vs white – it’s either the ultimate dichotomy of life, or just a massive race war.
But black and white is the essential element of Ikaruga, an incredible vertical shoot-em-up where the two create a fantastic game mechanic which still remains interesting so many years later.
1001 No.90: ‘Ikaruga’ (2001)
Vertical shoot-em-ups (like 1943, Aero Fighters, or a million other clones) are much the same – but Ikaruga introduces a unique aspect – enemies come in two shades, and you can flip your ship to either match them or oppose them. For example – you choose white, and white enemies power you up – but black ones are deadly. However, destroying your opposite colour yields bonuses – at a much greater risk.
Overall, an incredible game, developed by Treasure (the masters behind the awesome Gunstar Heroes) – but sadly now more of cult classic than a blockbuster. Like many of us, it was big in Japan, but took a long time to get to these shores. It was on Arcades over there, then on Dreamcast – but tragically never released in Europe on that system.
It’s been on Xbox Live Arcade relatively recently, but now listen up! Here’s your best chance to play the game you should have played almost 15 years ago. The ingenious system of Steam Greenlight has helped bring it to PC – grab it now and blast through one of the most fun (and most difficult) 2D shooters of all time.
100% The Hanger in 2 mins
Ever wonder what it is looks like to see a former Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 addict return to what he loves best?
The place: the hanger
Time: 2 minutes
The tasks:
- High Score – Obtain a score of 10,000 points
- Pro Score – Obtain a score of 25,000 points
- Sick Score – Obtain a score of 75,000 points
- Collect S-K-A-T-E – Collect the SKATE letters
- Barrel Hunt – Run into 5 scattered barrel stacks
- Collect 5 Pilot Wings – Collect 5 floating pilot emblems
- Nosegrind Over the Pipe
- Hit 3 Hangtime Gaps
- Find the Secret Tape
- 100% Goals and Cash – Complete all prior goals and collect all cash icons
14 years on, can it be done?
Mario Kart 64
This was always going to happen of course, the Mario Kart 64 showdown.
We’ve visited Mario Kart before, back on the Snes – and Ross’s anger certainly did make a reappearance this time. But Mario Kart 64 is the king, the undisputed champion of battle modes. So here it is! Witness the UCHG have a head-to-head-to-head, and see who ends up victorious.
1001 No.89: ‘Mario Kart 64’ (1997, N64)
Desert Bus
The steam autumn sale has arrived, and of course this is a huge strain on any respectable gamer’s wallet.
But one constant temptation even greater than steam is the humble bundle.
For those not in the know, the humble bundle is a regular sale of mostly (but not always) independent games, with a great philosophy: they’re always DRM free, they’re ‘pay what you want‘, and every time you buy something money goes to charity. It’s a win-win-win.
The current sale is for a bunch of android games, including one off the 1001 list I’d been meaning to try:
1001 No.88: ‘Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor’ (2009, iOS)
Though frankly it’s not worth your time. You’re a spider that has to go around trapping insects by making webs. There’s no danger; little wit required; I just don’t get it.
I put it down to the fact that *MAC BASHING ALERT* it originally came out on iOS, so iPhone users who played it probably thought using a touchscreen was amazing – they don’t really know what games are after all.
Spider is so lame I’d rather play one of the other games in the bundle: DESERT BUS.
Oh shit desert bus is so extreme – drive a bus in realtime across the desert for 8 actual real life hours.
It was originally created for Penn and Teller as a joke, but a joke that ended up raising tons of money through re-releases and charitable challenges. Over its lifetime Desert Bus has raised nearly $2m for charity.
Fuck yeah desert bus!
Superweapons was the worst idea we’ve ever had
Everyone loves a good threeway, especially when 64 bits are involved.
This threeway was rather unbalanced however, with one person doing quite a bit more shafting than everyone else.
Enjoy our attempts to play this N64 90s classic…