By Kieron Gillen on April 27th, 2010 at 3:31 pm.
This is totally retro. Armalyte! It’s an official remake of the classic C64 shooter. Being a Spec-chum, I never played it back then, but always looked at its cover-art longingly. Finally playing after all this time, I discover a fairly brutal R-type/Nemesis-esque game, with a perpetual shooty drone following you around and a constantly recharging hyperblasty thing. It’s an efficient remake with updated graphics – though oddly no “classic graphic mode” which I can see. My initial criticism about the demo would be that the enemy bullets actually look a little like power-ups, which caused an embarrassing death early on. It’s also retro in another really odd way. While you can go and get the demo here, you can’t buy it as a digital download. They actually ship the disc to you. Finally, at a price of £16.99, I suspect it’s not exactly going to attract many people who aren’t predisposed to indulge in a little 80s nostalgia. Video and links to other bits of coverage follows…
EDIT: After a rush of requests, they’re planing to actually do a digital-download option for a cheaper price. Will keep you informed.
If you want to know more, just One More Game is all over it. Here’s their review of the full thing and here’s an interview with the Devs.
And a question for the room – what actual C64 and Spectrum games would you like to see receive this kind of “deluxe remake” approach? And, equally, what would you pay for them?
27/04/2010 at 15:39 nine says:
Your punnish sins will have to be accounted for one day, Mr Gillen.
27/04/2010 at 16:02 The_B says:
A pun? More like awes-pun. ARMALYTE?
27/04/2010 at 16:04 The_B says:
(See, because Armalyte sounds like amirite and…no? Guys? …Guys?…)
*Sobs*
27/04/2010 at 17:09 mathew says:
How did you manage to write that without telling Gillen he’s going to be *pun*ished?
27/04/2010 at 15:45 Clovis says:
I’ll pass. I prefer my trips on the fast lane to hell be two-way.
27/04/2010 at 15:47 Jaz says:
I’d like to see a modern remake of the classic “SYNSO!” games by EDGE, preferably in the first person with Facebook connectivity.
27/04/2010 at 16:37 lhzr says:
http://bagfullofwrong.co.uk/bagfullofwords
27/04/2010 at 15:49 Alfie Noakes says:
To die in a spaceship is such a heavenly way to die…
27/04/2010 at 16:38 Rich says:
If you think either burning to death, asphyxiating, or both is heavenly, that is.
I suppose you could get lucky and just explode.
27/04/2010 at 19:19 Alfie Noakes says:
Whooooooooooooooosh!
27/04/2010 at 21:05 Stu says:
And if a bullet like a power-up, kills the both of us…
27/04/2010 at 15:54 Risingson says:
Shoot at anywhere, I don’t care I don’t care I don’t care…
27/04/2010 at 15:54 mihor_fego says:
eh… can I ask for an Amstrad game? It’s pretty much the same era! It would have to be Solomon’s Key, the import from the arcade version… I spent countless hours in front of the green screen playing that! A very accessible platform puzzler which could be one among those responsible for us enjoying games like Braid today.
Let’s not start this for Amiga games though, for my wish-list of games to remake is endless…
27/04/2010 at 15:56 Azazel says:
Full Duplex trip to hell plz.
27/04/2010 at 16:00 Wulf says:
Had this been cheap or free, my reaction would have sounded something like this: Eeeeeeee!
However, considering that this is £16.99, and that there’s visually superior horizontal shooty fun to be had elsewhere for free*, my reaction is sounding more like this: Meeehh.
* Prototype 2, Hydorah, and Dark Space come to mind. I’m sure there are others I’ve forgotten too, but I’m mostly into shooters of a more vertical slant, these days.
27/04/2010 at 16:41 Rich says:
Dark Space looks interesting. Some of it is a bit like side-scrolling Descent.
Shame I’ve always sucked at side-scrolling shooters.
27/04/2010 at 17:30 Radiant says:
Also Armalyte was £12.99 when it came out in 1988.
27/04/2010 at 16:15 Dan says:
Um…that’s two quid more than I just paid for Mass Effect 2.
So no.
Plus my mum’s actually got my C64 at home somewhere, complete with awesome (vertical, admittedly) scrolling shooter, XENON!
27/04/2010 at 16:16 cdm says:
Paradroid & Hunter’s Moon
27/04/2010 at 16:33 Robert says:
And if a double-decked spaceship crashes into us……..
As for your question: Aztec’s Challenge and *cough* G.I.Joe *cough*
27/04/2010 at 16:42 Diogo Ribeiro says:
Seems… Too floaty, like there’s a perpetual slowdown because of too many on-screen sprites to deal with at once. Of course, the slowdowns were also kind of a security blanket in some shmups; I remember playing R-Type on Snes and basically going “whoa” like Neo when I dodged them bullets. Except on higher difficulty levels, where it was just a death sentence given out in molasses.
Still like my Gradius better. And Parodius, dear elder gods, how I miss playing that.
27/04/2010 at 17:17 Radiant says:
I need a pc re-release of Gradius V for the ps2.
HELP ME INTERNET.
27/04/2010 at 19:58 Wulf says:
@Radiant
I imagine the best you could do is emulate it. Having looked at a vid of the emulation though, it looks incredibly smooth, so it’s as close as a PC release would ever be, anyway.
Take a look for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2CVK743uv8
The configuration of the emulator used is in the description, too. So you could just buy the PS2 version, rip an ISO of it, and then play it on an emulator.
27/04/2010 at 16:50 Diogo Ribeiro says:
Too clarify just a bit more: it just seems that, looking at the trailer, the ship comes off as floating rather than moving or zipping across the screen. Personally I prefer more direct, responsive movement. In any case, I’ll try to grab the demo.
27/04/2010 at 16:52 HexagonalBolts says:
Is that philip glass’ music from Koyanisqatsi? Sounds similar but slightly different
27/04/2010 at 16:57 Psychopomp says:
Pruit Igoe’s the name of the song
27/04/2010 at 17:09 Hodge says:
Whenever I play a modern remake of classic game, the new one never seems to match up to the original. In which case I just wind up playing the original again, making the new one a bit redundant. To me it would make more sense to instead re-do games that were really good ideas but didn’t get it right first time round – held back by the technology or similar.
With that in mind, a random list of almost-there C64 games I’d love to see done properly: Alter Ego, Mad Doctor, Sam Manthorpe’s Detective, Hacker, Rags To Riches.
What would I pay for them? Anywhere from US$5 to US$20, depending on how extensively they’ve been re-worked.
28/04/2010 at 15:28 Risingson says:
There’s a beautiful web-based remake of Alter Ego out there.
27/04/2010 at 17:12 Radiant says:
Paradroid
Hunter’s Moon
Hawkeye
Vendetta
Navy Seals
My brain has run out of room to remember the others right now without running to google.
27/04/2010 at 17:15 Radiant says:
Uridium.
Anything by:
Martin Walker [Citidel!]
Andrew Braybrook
Thalamus
Who else?
Some of those £1.99 games on mastertronic were the shit.
27/04/2010 at 17:23 Radiant says:
Vendetta
Last Ninja 1,2 &3
Bangkok Knights.
27/04/2010 at 17:27 Radiant says:
Entombed.
27/04/2010 at 17:29 RobF says:
The lack of a digital download is a bit mental. I get the logic behind it (in that Kenz is dedicated to doing things that wot how they used to be done) but erm, yeah, no download no sale from me.
As for the requests, most of them have been done already and one day I will get round to finding the time between writing my own games and home life to get the big list on RR sorted and bring it back to life. In the meantime, off the top of my head:
Paradroid: http://paradroid.ovine.net/
Hunters Moon: http://hunter.ovine.net/
Hawkeye: http://www.merseyremakes.co.uk/downloads/HAWKEYE.zip
Aztec Challenge: http://www.merseyremakes.co.uk/downloads/aztecchallenge.zip
Uridium: http://minionsoft.com/uridium/uridium.htm
There we go, that should keep you all going for a while!
27/04/2010 at 17:35 Radiant says:
@RobF
Ok I seem to have stood up and taken off my pants.
Why have you done this to me??
27/04/2010 at 17:42 Radiant says:
Creatures and Creatures 2
27/04/2010 at 22:58 Gabe McGrath says:
Last Ninja…
The same devs (Armalyte PC) are also working on this.
They’re calling it ‘The Final Ninja’, and at this stage, they’ve only released a single screenshot.
I wouldn’t expect to see this released for a long time – TLN is a game with a LOT of graphics to recreate.
27/04/2010 at 17:15 Dominic White says:
That price is absolutely insane…
And now for a nice retro 2D shooter that is likely going to be free, and is apparently due for release very soon.
http://www.locomalito.com/juegos_hydorah.php – Hydorah.
Check out the trailer, play the demo, sit in excited anticipation of the full release. Word is it’s in beta testing now.
27/04/2010 at 17:17 Dominic White says:
Replying to myself to say: Blargh, beaten to a Hydorah mention already. Either way, CHECK IT OUT. It’s damn impressive.
27/04/2010 at 17:22 Dominic White says:
Further lamenting the death of the edit function, I’ll ramble more about Hydorah.
The full version looks like it’s going to be 18 levels long, have 26+ bosses, and a really, really fantastic soundtrack. It sounds just how it should. The trailer alone is enough proof of this.
27/04/2010 at 17:16 Sunjumer says:
Great my browser ate my well thougt out comment.
Short version:
I’d love to see a remake of Operation Firestart.
Where one gets to explore a space ship wehre things went horribly wrong (TM)
And was an interesting mixture of sedate (but tense) exploration and a frantic fight for survival.
27/04/2010 at 17:23 Hodge says:
Sweet cock-mothering arse mustard, THIS.
27/04/2010 at 17:24 JonFitt says:
I’d like to see all the Dizzy games given a modern overhaul.
Also, Midnight Resistance.
oh and of course, Chaos: The Battle of Wizrds
27/04/2010 at 19:53 jonfitt says:
Also,
-Head over Heels
-Spy vs Spy
27/04/2010 at 21:57 RobF says:
Spy Vs Spy is a weird one, last time I checked First Star still own the rights to the game and are (unlike with Boulderdash) pretty unwilling to do anything of note with it. Or they just haven’t had the right offer.
I think the Trapulator is also covered by one of the legal miscellany that companies like to come up with so it’s not like it’s entirely viable to do a knock off without getting a slap to the back of the head.
Then again, I’m not sure that the old interface would be a smart idea anyway. If barely sufficed in the eighties and you could, I’m sure, do something much much much better now.
27/04/2010 at 17:32 Radiant says:
http://www.c64.com/interviews/cyberdyne_systems.html
Interview with the makers of the original.
28/04/2010 at 01:06 RedFred says:
Cyberdyne systems? Really?
Shit! Where’s John Conner?
27/04/2010 at 17:40 theleif says:
I’d like a remake of Sex Games, but i doubt the addictive gameplay and innovative mechanics of the game can be improved.
27/04/2010 at 18:59 deadbob says:
I’d love to see the old Hewson 3d adventures
Avalon,
Dragontorc and
Astro Clone.
Actually I’m looking at them now, what the hell was ‘Sensory Animation’?, whatever it was Dragontorc had it!
27/04/2010 at 21:51 RobF says:
There’s a whole wealth of Hewson stuff I’d love to see redone, right down to the early Sieddab games which are ripe for a more modern/arcadey take on them.
And Technician Ted, natch.
Was never too fond of Astroclone, mind. A bastardisation of Avalon and the Gargoyle graphic adventure stuff wasn’t/isn’t quite to my tastes. I think I just missed the floaty bouncy stuff really though.
27/04/2010 at 20:59 aPerson says:
@ jonfitt
already exists. If not mistaken, there are a several remakes out there.
27/04/2010 at 21:07 aPerson says:
First post + first reply Fail + http link Fail :-(
The above link is for a Head over Heels remake
28/04/2010 at 00:04 RedFred says:
Smiths references in titles = excellent.
28/04/2010 at 00:04 RedFred says:
Reply that was not meant to be = fail.
28/04/2010 at 07:18 LUCA says:
any game by one of the greatest minds, ANDREW BRAYBROOK, someone above mentioned paradroid but also uridium, MORPHEUS owned a lot too…
Armalyte plays as good today as it did 20+ years ago, i should know cause i play it on emulation to this day.
28/04/2010 at 10:45 Flimgoblin says:
Nostalgia crits you in the head for… well not quite enough to make me buy it :p but I will gaze longingly at the video for a bit.
28/04/2010 at 15:55 MadMatty says:
Thinking of these r-type shooters for the C64, the game “IO” as in the moon, sprung to mind.
It had some very nice graphics at the time, everything looked super cool- and gameplay was good.
..Ahaha here it is.. youtube is proving better and better for doses of nostalgia:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cspP5LEu-E&feature=PlayList&p=94A16C113C456AAD&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=43