The Early Days of Mortal Kombat

In the early days of home console gaming all eyes were on Nintendo.  They seemed to have the winning formula for success in the early days, so developers didn't seem to challenge their rules.  While there were many great games out for the Nintendo and Super Nintendo, their strict policies on how violence was portrayed in games kept developers from pushing the envelope.  This policy made many developers to gear their games for children, and made the idea of games with adult themes very taboo.

How did Nintendo not find this good, wholesome fun for the family

The Mortal Kombat series was one that certainly didn't seek Nintendo's approval.  Debuting in 1992 with the original Mortal Kombat arcade game, the 2-dimensional fighting game made waves with it's realistic character models, and extremely violent content.  From the outset this made the series extremely popular.  And by 1995 there were two sequels to the hit out for arcades.

What made the game most shocking to most was the fact that instead of cartoonish characters, MK used real actors to create the models of each character.  Successful strikes against your opponents caused sprays of blood to shoot from their wounds.  At the end of each battle the loser stands dazed and the game proclaims "Finish Him."  From there each character has his or her own unique finishing move called a Fatality.  Mortal Kombat fatalities are gruesome animations of character dismemberment, or maiming.  Each of the three original arcade games had home console counterparts.

Mortal Kombat 3 arcade machine

  

The first two games were available on the SNES and Sega Genesis.  Most gamers remember the Genesis ports the best.  Although the game was toned down from the arcade version, a cheat code could be entered to unlock the blood and gore that the arcade version had.  The Super Nintendo was a different story all together.  Much of the game was altered, the blood was removed, many of the fatalities were altered to limit the violence, and even if you had the cheat codes the blood would be green.  This caused many gamers who didn't have access to a Genesis to cry foul. 

The third game was also ported to the Sony PlayStation.  The PS1 was a great system for the series to grow, and didn't have the same objections to the violent content that the earlier systems did.  The issue that fans had with the third installment was that many of the principal characters were replaced.  Raiden, Scorpion, Mileena, Kitana, and other series regulars were all replaced with new characters.  While still a great Mortal Kombat the omission of many of the series' regulars were too much for fans to take.

Mortal Kombat Trilogy for the Playstation boasted tons of playable characters

In order to solve these issues for the home console market, in 1996 Mortal Kombat Trilogy was developed for the PlayStation and the Nintendo 64.  On the surface they were very solid home console versions of the game, but the PlayStation version boasted 37 playable characters from each of the first three titles.  There were several improvements made to gameplay including the Brutality finishing maneuver, and the Aggressor bar which gave temporary boost in performance.  

The high number of playable characters really set the game apart from any game like it.  Having such a vast number of playable characters gave the game a high replay value.  Another feature that the game had was a cheat code for performing one button Fatalities.  This eliminated the need to perform the complicated inputs previously needed to perform these abilities.  

Tons of characters made for Mortal Kombat heaven

While the PlayStation version was a moderate hit, the Nintendo 64 was a different story.  Limitations in the system caused the developers once again to have to scale back the game.  The N64 version only had 30 characters included, among other limitations.

Mortal Kombat Trilogy also marked the end of 2D gaming for the series (until 2011's Mortal Kombat for PS3 and XBox 360).  Mortal Kombat 4 evolved the series into a 3D fighter.  Beyond that there were several other different style games set in the Mortal Kombat universe that further went away from the originals.    

Where would we be without Baseball Stars?

Although the title of Retro Gaming Geek comes along with the expectations of being buried in a non stop avalanche of platforming games and shooters.  The fact is that I do enjoy those games, and many other nerdy type games like strategy games, and I have not even begun to profess my love for RPG's.  However I am a paradox of a gamer, in that I am also a considerable fan of RPG's but I am also a big sports fan.  And while I love going on an epic adventures with my gaming, there is very little denying that some of the NES sports titles were quite innovative and a fun diversion when my adventures got derailed.  The ability to customize characters and statistics has become a universal idea that crosses many different types of game genres.

Many hardcore gamers wont give their time to many sports titles, and for good reason.  Much like the early arcade style games, sports games really only offer repetitive game play.  While titles like Madden and the MLB the Show series offer state of the art graphics and a focus on accurately representing their subject matter, they don't truly really offer a great variety of play options.  Quick play mode, season mode, franchise mode, General Manager mode, tournament mode, no matter how they dress it up at the end of the day it really is just game after game.  If you don't care for sports there really is no appeal.  But if you enjoy sports you know there is nothing repetitive about a good season mode somewhere.

There was no worries about steroids in the late 80's so the cover art could still feature a roided out batter.

With spring training just around the corner, it makes me think of one of my personal favorite early sports games:  Baseball Stars.  Released in 1989 by SNK Baseball Stars is one of many titles for the NES that tackled the national pastime.  While the pitcher/batter interaction isn't the best looking of the batch it makes up for it in fun factor.  Baseball games up to that point really weren't very good.  Many of those early Atari baseball games didn't really follow the game really well, and others made fielding nearly impossible.  Baseball Stars was different, you could field and run the bases with limited mistakes caused by messing up on the controller (Which sadly became a common issue with many baseball titles going forward).  The pitcher/batter interface wasn't as nice looking as some of the other baseball titles, but didn't have steep learning curve of many of those other titles.

There were other pitcher/batter interfaces that looked much better than this, but  this one worked pretty well.

In my opinion many baseball games have even to this day have been very poorly done, my favorite games are the more recent MLB the Show games, which really makes most other titles look bad.  So just making a fun and playable baseball game was quite a triumph, but what fans of Baseball Stars really remember is the customization.  The NES was the first system that really had any chance at this, due to the fact that you could save the progress in your games.  Since Baseball Stars lacked any kind of MLB licensing they gave you a few teams, and you had to create teams to fill the rest of the roster.  The players from these created teams were able to be named, traded, upgraded, or straight up released and replaced.

If Jim sucks and you can get a better player, you can send him off into the sunset, quite literally.

At that time that kind of customization was insane.  It wasn't even that common for players to have unique attributes, let alone a whole General Manager mode. First you create your own custom league with 2-6 teams and setup the number of times each team plays each other.  As long as you are controlling your own custom team you will earn money after each victory that can be used towards hiring new players or upgrading the players you have.  Add the fact that there were statistics and a league leader section for the season mode, Baseball Stars was really one of the first great sports game experiences.  There was a direct sequel out for the NES, and then Little Leauge Baseball: Championship Series and Legends of the Diamond which featured a roster of legendary baseball players which featured very similar gameplay.  After the NES Baseball Stars moved to the Neo-Geo with two more Baseball Stars games with big improvements to the graphics.

Undoubtedly these traits have become the standard of any sports title now to keep the replay value of the game as high as possible.  So I always credited Baseball Stars for raising the bar early for other sports titles.  So if you are looking for a fun and addicting take on the national pastime try to hunt down Baseball Stars.

This April I will probably venture a little deeper into the very deep pool of early baseball title but for now I will leave you with some Baseball Stars gameplay from YouTube.

        

And Baseball Stars 2 on the Neo-Geo.

 

Retro Review: Lemmings - Multi-platform - 1991

If I told you there was a video game based on an urban legend perpetuated by the mass murder of cute little arctic rodents by the Disney company in the 1950's would you think I was crazy.  However it is true.  The game is called Lemmings, and before getting into the game I should explain the backstory.

This is a real live non-suicidal lemming.  

     A lemming is a small rodent that lives in Arctic regions of the world.  A popular misconception arose about lemmings, that during migration they would commit mass suicide by jumping off the edge of a cliff into the sea.  In 1958 Disney released "White Wilderness" a nature documentary in which they showed lemmings plunging off of cliff sides to their eventual death.  Sadly this was only an attempt to romanticize these legends and led to many people believing that the lemming stories were true.  The footage of the lemming suicide was staged and the poor little creatures were either pushed or launched into achieve the footage that was in the  documentary.  Then the poor little bastards tried to swim away from the Disney masochists, not realizing that they weren't just in the lake.  I have included that footage below and you can see for yourself.

However the idea of little creatures walking blindly into impending doom did tum out to inspire a pretty good video game.  The original 1991 version was released for the Amiga due to the fact it had a mouse which really is the logical way to play the game.  However the game was so much fun, there has been a version released for damn near every game system I've ever owned.  There is a version for the following systems: Amiga, Atari ST, PC, Mac, NES, SNES, Turbo Grafx CD, Sega Master System, Atari Lynx, Sega Genesis, Commodore 64, Sega Game Gear, Game Boy, PSP, PS1, PS2, 3DO, CD-i, and a bunch more for some obscure old systems.

Several of our brave lemming friends must explode to allow the herd to make  it to safety in this level.

Lemmings worked on a simple platformer basis.  The lemmings would pop out of a trap door into some type of peril.  Left to their own devices the lemmings will just walk until they hit something and turn around and walk the other way, even if that path will lead to their doom.  There was a goal at the end of the level and your job was to teach several lemmings a particular skill to help pave the way for the others to reach the goal safely.

The entire name of the game is strategy and using the jobs that are given correctly.  Climbers obviously climb things.  Floaters deploy an umbrella to avoid death from falling from a distance.  Bombers blow up and destroy everything within a certain radius.  Blockers stay put and keep other lemmings from passing.  Builders build 12 stairs.  And Bashers, Miners, and Diggers all just dig in different directions.

The original version came with its own side effect warning label.

The developers were very keen on keeping the learning curve manageable.  The first few levels are designed to familiarize yourself with the games controls and jobs.  As the game goes on the challenges get more and more severe.  Each level has its own specific goals, many of the levels will only require the saving of a percentage of the lovable little scamps.  Unfortunately these levels require you to use either blockers or bombers in your strategy to martyr themselves for the greater good.  And if you see that you need to save 100% of the lemmings you know that you have failed immediately after one dies.

The nuke button made Lemmings the best game to screw up ever.

And what did the developers do in those tricky situations where we were completely stuck with no hope of success?  Well they gave us the nuke button of course (Thank god Disney hasn't featured lemmings in any more recent nature films).  Instead of allowing the level to just end with some downer jingle and sad times that you screwed up, you got to blow all of your little friends to smithereens, just like this guy who sings his rather joyous lemmings song the whole time (They start exploding at about 1:20 if you want to spare yourself from hearing the song the whole time)...

  
Thankfully the real soundtrack for Lemmings doesn't quite pack the same punch.  It's hard to believe that Lemmings has now been around for over two decades.  And obviously it still has demand, I believe it is currently on sale for digital download on the PSN and will be coming up on its 25th anniversary within the next few years so I expect to see the title make a return in the future.  In my opinion it is still one of the all time greats as far as strategy games goes.  So unless the Sega Dreamcast is your last working game system, find a copy of Lemmings and have some fun.

Also thankfully YouTubers like to upload themselves playing games without singing along.  Here is some Lemmings gameplay to enjoy.  The second one is particularly amazing check them out.

  

I Represent Generation Gamer

As I digest many of the rumors, speculations and general excitement that comes along with the news that the Playstation 4 and the Xbox 720 may not be very far off into the future I realized something.  I realized that as a 30 something that never grew out of the "video game phase," that myself and my generation really did grow up alongside the video game.

When the Atari 2600 finally gained popularity in the United States in the late 1970's, many young people my age were cutting their teeth on the roots of what has become an entire culture.  While many of the games in the early Atari catalog weren't exactly masterpieces, it was a strong start to something great.  The simple graphics and sounds made these early titles a springboard for a young person's imagination.

At that time I was still very young, my video game experience was getting my ass kicked at games like Combat by my teenage uncle.  I also remember getting bored quickly at doing the same thing over and over again, or just not understanding what the hell was going on. (Thank you E.T.)  It also didn't help at all that the controls weren't exactly the most responsive either. 

There I am in the blue tank, still figuring out the controls.

Much like growing up in the early 1980's the video game industry hit a very awkward period as well.  Just as a youngster I needed to learn from my mistakes and try new things, the video game industry found themselves in a strange learning phase.  Atari attempted to replicate their own success by releasing the Atari 5200 and 7800.  Other systems such as the Colecovision and Intellicast both attempted to become players as well in an increasingly oversaturated market.  While each new system boasted improvements to the graphics and sound they each found themselves with problems.  Almost all of the systems had clunky, gimmicky controllers that made the games difficult to play.  And although the games looked and sounded better than ever, they still lacked depth and replay value. 

In 1982 Colecovision took a commanding lead in video game graphics.
However it was as big as your coffee table, and you had to play it with that weird telephone thingy.   

As I got older it appeared that video games would simply be an interesting footnote of my early childhood..  However one company attempted to slap that thought out of my young mind.  The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was released with a furious go for broke advertising campaign.  This time around things were different.  The gaming experience was something to behold for the time.  The graphics were improved, the sounds were much better, the overall experience was vastly improved.  However the single most important feature of the NES was its controller.

This was so much easier on the thumbs than anything before it.

In my opinion the NES controller's directional pad was the single most important innovation in home console video gaming.  Instead of going with a traditional joystick, the "D-pad" made for crisper and more responsive control of the games.  Just as I had grown bigger the NES control fit wonderfully into my growing hands.   I don't think we would be talking about the future of video games in this country without the d-pad.  Even to this day each major gaming system has made use of some form of the d-pad on their controllers.

Rob the Robot was the star of the early Nintendo advertisements, they went on to make 2 games for Rob.

Over the next few years the NES grew into the premiere home console video game system.  It is rare to find a person over the age of 25 that hasn't had some previous experience with one.  While the old Atari system was great inspiration, the Nintendo was revolutionary.  Aside from the obvious improvements the games were also much better.  While the NES did support the old arcade style games, developers were also given the option to create large scale epic adventure type games that necessitated numerous sittings to complete.  Once again as I got older and my attention span grew and the games I was playing grew with me.

Since the release of the NES the video game industry grew.  The NES marked the era of the modern video game.  Over the next several years the market shifted from the focus on arcade games, on to the home consoles.  And finally video game makers created the type of fan base and buzz that led to excitement for the releases of new game systems.

Well they can't all be zingers I guess.

Over the course of my life I have now seen this repeat itself over and over again every few years like clockwork.  The Super Nintendo was the first system that I can remember having a strong anticipation for.  Following that was the Nintendo 64, and the excitement of the news that the Sony Playstation was attempting the do CD Rom games that would blow the new Nintendo's games away.  Next came the Playstation 2 and Xbox systems with boasted a DVD rom and some of the finest games that the world had ever seen.  And most recently the excitement for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 units heading into the realm of high definition graphics.  And the curiosity that accompanied the Nintendo Wii using cutting edge motion controllers to attempt to redefine the industry yet again.

And we thank you Wii for that innovation.

And I grew up with all of it, and loved every minute of it.  But as I sit and think about what is coming in the near future it caused me to sit and reflect on the past.  Made me realize that me and hoards of other 30 somethings out there really are a part of Generation Gamer.  I will be the first to admit I have logged many hours on newer titles such as Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, and Elder Scrolls games and grew up with staple series like Final Fantasy, Madden and Super Mario Brothers.  As great as video games have become I realize that they just were not possible without those classic games that I played as a child.  With that realization The Retro Gamer Geek was born.

So if you are a fellow member of Generation Gamer feel free to visit this blog for a various array of topics.  Past, Present and Future are all fair game here.  Stay tuned for more blog posts.