Kravlor.com - Retro Gaming

A Blast from the Past

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:40:13 -0600

Today, I ended up conquering an old DOS-based game that was among the first video games I ever played: Miner VGA.

There's nothing terribly special about it. By today's standards, it'd be awful. But on my cousin's shiny new 386 with 4 MB of RAM, it was one of the most fun things I had ever played, partially because it had a) color and b) sound. (The other 'landmark' game of this era for me? Wolfenstein 3D, of course!)

But, things have changed since 1989. (Ah, nostalgia!) The total awesomeness of this game, however, has not. Fortunately, one can use DosBox to emulate it perfectly. I would highly recommend anyone reading this to give it a shot!

This Can't Be a Good Thing (for my thumbs)

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 21:11:18 -0500

Capcom released Mega Man 9.

A stroll down memory lane -- via pure 8-bit Mega Man goodness. Jumpy blocks, cleverly placed pits -- and who can forget those pesky instant-death spikes?

WHO WILL SAVE DR. LIGHT FROM BEING FRAMED BY THE INFAMOUS DR. WILY? WHO??

This can't be good for my Ph.D. research. :)

The Realm of Thornwood is Safe Once Again...

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 21:37:50 -0500

... now that I have managed to vanquish Dark Sol in the upper lairs of the Labyrinth!

To the 99.5% of people who don't get that at first, my apologies. However, those who DO recognize the sheer awesomeness of the original Shining in the Darkness can appreciate the accomplishment.

It's too bad that the game came out seventeen years ago. It makes me feel old knowing that I was horrifically addicted to it back then, just as I was now. This time, though, I had more detailed maps -- if only because I made them myself. (It's too bad today's games don't make you do that. I thought it was always a fun challenge.)

A seventeen-year quest ended this evening for me...

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 21:30:21 -0500

... when I finally beat Castlevania for the NES. That has to be one of the hardest games ever made.

In other news, it turns out writing research proposals are rather time-consuming. I've been working on mine since March. And it will end on August 21. Until then, I get to go back to my office, papers, and equations. Wish me luck!

Shining Goodness

Mon, 27 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0500

Those of you that know me also know that I am a rather big fan of RPG's. My brother is too. It all got started with a rental (and later purchase) of Shining Force II. It's a strategic, turn based game which has spawned many imitators, e.g. Final Fantasy Tactics.

Well, tonight I close a chapter in the RPG nerdiness of my experience, just in time to start studying for my qualifier in August. Tonight I beat SFII on Ouch! difficulty. And it feels great! Let's just say that Zeon was tough. :)

[brag]To make things sweeter, the bonus fight also fell to my party. For those of us who don't remember, that's situated in the Ancient Tunnels between Grans Island and the Parmecian continent, reached after the endgame has played out by waiting ~5 mins on the "Fin" screen. The enemies: Zeon, King Galam, Odd Eye, Geshp, Red Baron, Cameela, Zalbard, the Chess King, Willard the Rat, Prism flowers, and a posessing ghost from the first battle. All at once. And on Ouch![/brag]

A Totally Awesome Remake

Fri, 31 Dec 2004 00:00:00 -0600

After many, many hours of gaming with good friemds, I must put a glowing reference to the remake of Doom that has kept us going for so long.

Witness ZDaemon, a multiplayer client/server port of Doom, with capture-the-flag mods available. It includes features such as auto-WAD find/download, as well as an Internet game-finder.

Add cross-platform compatibility to the list of growing features, and you have an excellent combination of modern-era Doomage!

(Things sure have progressed since the days of SuperSer serial-cable networks...)

Retro Gaming + Assembly + Spare time = ...

Tue, 07 Dec 2004 00:00:00 -0600

I'm a big fan of the good old-fashioned 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System. I enjoy the fun of playing the classics with a real Nintendo controller, as opposed to on emulators. That's why I built an interface to my computer to do just that.

However, I've been one-upped by many people who have taken further steps. People such as those who are writing the emulators we all enjoy. People such as those who are devoted hardware hackers.

I was so impressed by one of them that I had to give it a glowing review -- meet the Devtendo! Who wouldn't want to couple their PC to the NES through its controller port?

High on my wishlist is a programmable flash-ROM based NES cartridge... and it seems like people are working on it.