Bubble Bobble

Amiga mainscreen

Bubble Bobble is a true Taito classic from 1986, although probably not as widely known as their hit Space Invaders (1978) the protagonists Bub and Bob where popular enough to be featured in a number of other games, most notably Bust a Move a,k,a, Puzzle Bubble.
This was the very first console game I owned (NES).

NES screenshot

Although the story is basically the tired old trope of "save the girl" (maybe not that tired back in the 80s) and the core mechanics are pretty simple, it does build on that mechanic to make it a truly entertaining game which require somewhat different tactics for different levels.
The two bubble dragons can shoot bubbles in which to trap enemies. The bubbles can also be used as platforms in order to get to otherwise unreachable platforms in stages.
Other bubble types are subsequently introduced as the levels progress; water bubbles, that flush away enemies, fire bubbles that burns them, and electric bubbles that stuns them.
There are also a number of bonus items. most that simply gives points, but the umbrellas are of special interest since it lets you skip a number of stages, which is a good thing considering there are 100 of them!

"In a certain village where everyone lives peacefully, Bub and Bob lived alongside their girlfriends, Betty and Patty. One day, the two girls left the village to explore the nearby woods, stumbling into a mysterious area known as the Magical Forest. Due to their unfamiliar surroundings, the two became lost, accidentally wandering into a cave deep in the forest known as the Cave of Monsters. The girls proceeded to encounter Grumple Grommit, master of the cave, who kidnapped them and trapped them on the 100th floor. Bub and Bob set out to rescue the two, but ran afoul of Grumple Grommit as well, who transformed them into Bubble Dragons. Using their newfound abilities, the two set out to journey through all 100 floors of the cave in order to rescue the girls."
(http://bubblebobble.wikia.com/wiki/Bubble_Bobble)

Arcade screenshot

The game featured multiple endings, which was rather rare at the time. I remember playing through the game only to be told I had to play it with a friend. Since I had the NES game I ended up cheating by adding player 2 at the last stage and beating it on my own. I can imagine how frustrating it was for everyone playing it in arcades, pumping the game full of money only to be told they had to do it all over again with a friend!

*minor spoiler*
In the end of course the protagonists are turned back into humans. That's something I guess the developers of the spin-offs didn't really care about.

You can get a copy of the nes game between €70 and €100 depending on the quality and whether or not it's just the cartridge.
The Amiga version goes for €200 (still in foil).
If you want a genuine arcade cabinet expect to pay closer to €2500.

Burger Time

Arcade cabinet

Since yesterday was my birthday, I figured it would be appropriate to cover a game from 1982.
Burgertime was developed by Data East as an arcade game in 1982.
It's original title ハンバーガー (Hamburger) was changed to Burgertime for it's U.S. release

Arcade screenshot

The player controls chef Peter Pepper in his mission to assemble giant hamburgers, by walking over the ingredients; bun, meat, tomato, salad, to make the pieces drop down below the platform.
This must be done while avoiding the enemies: Mr. Hot Dog, Mr. Pickle and Mr. Egg.
Peter can crush the enemies by dropping the ingredients on them from the platforms above, or stun them by throwing pepper from a pepper shaker (limited amunition).

This was clearly a popular game, since it has been ported to 16 consoles and 6 sequels/spin-offs, which where not as popular as the original game.

Intellivision screenshot

I remember playing this on my brother Intellivision as a kid. The Intellivision version was released in 1983 and a used copy costs somewhere between €30-70, depending on where you get it and it's condition.
The nes version can be found for about €10-20.
However, if you want a genuine arcade cabinet expect to pay closer to €3000.

Nintendo screenshot

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence

Happy valentines day everyone!

Here's an extra post to celebrate; a tragic lovestory.

I love the Castlevania series, but tragically this attempt at an origin story was not as great at it could have been. It was definitely a Castlevania game, but the gameplay and story just felt a bit unpolished.
If the developers would have put more time into this I think it would have been great. That being said, it was probably the first Castlevania game to make it to 3d without being totally awful.
Still, having a polished version of this game (and with polished I don't mean graphically but rather gameplay and story) would have been better than the U.S. made reboot from 2010.

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence was released in 2003 to the PS2, in Japan, Australia and Europe it was titled simply Castlevania.

The story is about Leon Belmont setting out to save his betrothed Sara Trantoul from the vampire Walter Bernhard in 1094.

This is the story of how the Belmont clan became vampire hunters and how the legendary whip "Vampire Killer" was made.

It plays like any classic Castlevania game, but in 3d. Exploring the castle "Eternal Night" and fighting monsters and bosses and fighting bosses.

This game removed the leveling system that was used in earlier games (from Symphony of the Night), due to complains of some fans that it made the games too easy. The idea was that you instead could equip different gear to alter the difficulty according to your taste.

At the time this game was released I played Final Fantasy XI, and there was actually a rumor going around that Koji Igarashi was playing on the same server as me. If that was true (although doubtful) it could explain the lack of "polishness" of this game, since many players of FFXI where really addicted, wasting way more time in the game than doing what they where supposed to.

Expect to pay about €50 for a used copy of this game.

*Major Spoilers following this point*

The heart wrenching climax of the story is when Leon realizes that the only way to kill the vampire is to use alchemy to enhance his whip by killing someone infected by the vampire.

This is when he finally manages to rescue his betrothed, but finds out the vampire has turned her.

The fact that he consciously has to make the choice to kill her, despite the fact that only reason he went after the vampire in the first place was to save her, makes this story much more heart wrenching than Lords of Shadow could ever be.

The fact that it was Leons best friend Mathias Cronqvist who manipulated him from the beginning made a good plot twist, however it's as if the story fizzles out in the end where it is just causally mentioned that he became a vampire and later changed his name to Dracula.

This is of course the origin story of how the Belmonts acquired the whip called the "Vampire Killer" and became vampire hunters with a personal vendetta against Dracula, but somehow it feels somewhat disappointing to have it end like that.

Devil World

Devil World for the NES designed by Shigery Miyamoto and Takeshi Tezuka (of Super Mario and Legend of Zelda fame). It was released in 1984 in Japan and in 1987 in Europe.

I remeber playing this at a friends house as a kid.

It is often compared to Pac-Man, and it's easy to see why.
The player controls a dragon called Tamagon, a combination of the words Tamago (egg in Japanese) and Dragon.
The object of the first stage is to collect all the pellets in the labyrinth. The labyrinth is patrolled by monsters, but there are power-ups in the shape of crosses scattered around that makes Tamagon able to spit fire to defend himself.

Above the labyrinth is the Devil, directing his minions to move the stage in different directions, making it possible for Tamagon to be squished at the edges of the labyrinth.

On the second stage the object is to collect four bibles and put it in to a seal. On this stage carrying the bibles give the same ability as the crosses on the first stage. When the seal is completed the Devil flies away.
This is followed by a bonus stage and then the three stages repeat.

In my oppinion this game was way more fun than pacman, not least of all due to the fact it is possible to play two players co-operatively. Although it was obviously inpired by the latter, and made four years later.
Of course due to the fact that it was a NES exclusive, and only released in Japan and Europe, it was far less well known.

A copy of the game costs around €80.

Sokoban

The game you played a lot, without even knowing about.
Sokoban 倉庫番 means storekeeper or "warehouse man", the object of the game is to push crates to predefined destinations.
Sokoban is a puzzle game that has been used, in some form or another, as a minigame in a number of different games, predominantly jrpgs.
Sokoban was created in 1982 by Thinking Rabbit for the NEC PC-8801, a popular Japanese home computer, and got a sequel in 1984.

Original Sokoban for the NEC PC-8801

The game was such a hit that the term Sokoban became synonymous with this type of puzzle; not only the original games made by Thinking Rabbit.
It has been ported to various platforms, and is common as web games and apps and as minigames in a number of other types of games, but often altered and reinvented.
One example is the "Millenium Puzzles" in the 2002 PS2 game Wild Arms 3, where it was turned into three dimensions.

Millenium Puzzle in Wild Arms 3

Love it or hate it, Sokoban has certainly left its mark in gaming history.