Classic of the Month - Pin•Bot

Manufacturer:	Williams
Genre:	Pinball
Board:	Williams System 11A
Year:	1986

Whether you played many pinball machines or not, they were once an integral, if niche, part of the arcade scene. I talked about White Water for April's Classic of the Month, so I decided it was time I did another. Enter Pin•Bot by Williams, as iconic a machine as you can get -- in every sense of the word.

The idea is that the table itself is a planet-destroying, living pinball table called Pin•Bot, the Ultimate Machine, and you are battling against it as it travels from Pluto to the Sun. Rather than simply having the creature on the artwork, a la Gorgar or Centaur, here the table's ramps, lanes and bumpers all form parts of the PinPin•Bot's anatomy. For example, the skill shot vortex is his left shoulder. The feature this table is most famous for is Pin•Bot's visor, which will open up if you can hit the targets to activate the multicoloured grid below it. Once the visor opens the player has to give the Pin•Bot its "eyes" by shooting the ball into the sockets hidden underneath. If you succeed Pin•Bot announces, "Now I see you", which is quite eerie even today. Giving Pin•Bot his eyes also triggers the 2-ball multi-ball mode and activates the ramp on the left, which leads to a jackpot and the chance to move on to the next planet.

Is that Joseph and the Technicolour Samurai? No, it's Pin•Bot

Here's a brief gameplay video of a Pin•Bot machine at Funspot, complete with some handy commentry that makes reference to opening the visor and giving the Pin*Bot its "eyes".

Pin•Bot is also one of the few pinball machines I can think of to get a home conversion. Rare (of Goldeneye fame) brought it to the Nintendo NES) in 1988 and it isn't too bad to be honest. I always liked that Rare kept your flippers in view, which is a problem on a lot of video pinball games.

MTW

Homage Review: Renegade Ops (Xbox 360)

Sega backs a beauty, with this over-the-top, explosive vehicle-based shoot 'em up.  

When I think about old arcade games, I think of either specific games I loved or just the overall bombastic, explosive action so many arcade games offered. Games like Narc, Mercs and Smash TV. It is in the spirit of such games that Sega, along with developer Avalanche, give us Renegade Ops.

The plot is suitably cliché and dumb. A megalomaniac mad man calling himself Inferno is blowing up cities, much like every megalomaniac mad man in every cheesy action movie ever. Rather than deal with Inferno using force, the world's leaders decide to negotiate a truce, because frankly, they're a bunch of p***ies. Thank God for General John Bryant, who throws his dog tags and accolades on the floor of the situation room in disgust and decides if the people in power won't kick Inferno's arse, he and his team of four renegade soldiers will just have to do it instead. Let the wanton destruction and arse kickery begin - and let's make one thing clear, if there's one thing this game does well, it's wanton destruction.

The renegades, from left to right, Armand, Diz, Gunnar, Roxy and John Bryant

You start the game by choosing one of the four renegade, each of which drives a different vehicle with different abilities. Armand's can hunker down, tortoise-like and deflect most flak for a few seconds, but leaves you unable to fire back; Diz has an EMP, which can disable all enemies within a limited range, but only for a few seconds; Gunnar has a cannon, which is very powerful, but can only be fired when stationary; and Roxy can call in a limited number of air strikes, which take a few seconds to wind up. Which ability suits you depends on the kind of player you are and they each have a down side. I favourite Diz, because the EMP was quick and bought me time to either lay down some suppressing fire or get the hell out of any immediate danger.

Each level is set in a different zone and consists of a number of objects (highlighted by a red arrow on the HUD) and challenges (indicated by a white arrow). You usually have one of each to tackle at any given time and generally speaking you are free to choose. After each mission you get to assign points to a skill tree, allowing you to unlock more powers, additional weapons and so on. Thankfully, you are not suck with the powers you unlock, only the one you choose at the start of each mission, allowing for plenty of experimentation.

Aside from how wonderfully everything blows up, the best thing about this game is the controls. Within no time you'll be whipping your little jeep or armoured vehicle around like a 4x4 in "Iron Man" Ivan Stewart's Super Off Road. While we're making comparisons to old arcade games, the most obvious one is Konami's Jackal, to which Renegade Ops could easily have been a 21st century remake or sequel.

At the top of this review I said this game was in the spirit of classic bombastic arcade shoot 'em ups and that was no exaggeration. This is one of those games that leaves you feeling pumped up and ready to tackle anything. However, add in a few friends and you can also start to apply some strategy to how you play, partnering up to support and complement each vehicles strengths and weaknesses or simply making sure as many of the mission objectives and challenges are completed in each level.

If you want a modern game with the heart of a pure, classic arcade game, don't look any further than Renegade Ops.

Plays like

• Jackal
• Speed Rumbler
• "Iron Man" Ivan Stewart's Super Off Road

Highs

• Fast, furious and explosive action.
• Smart mission structure.
• Character levelling and progression add depth, but without tying the player down to set configurations.
• Multiplayer (local or online) co-op opens up new possibilities for tactical play.

Lows

• Some technical issues with the online multiplayer
• Not a lot of variety in the gameplay or missions.

Renegade Ops is available from tomorrow on PSN and Steam priced £10.99 and Xbox Live Arcade for 1200MSP.

Greatest Arcade Manufacturer

Atari, Capcom, Data East, Irem, Konami, Midway, Namco, Nintendo, Sega, Taito for any arcade nut these companies were the bastions of our digital dreams; their flashing, beeping, gyrating creations held us all in a state of blissful hypnosis unlike anything else in our little worlds; the appearance of a new machine in your local arcade was always a wonder to behold, even if the game itself turned out not to be that great.  I can recall the first time I saw luxury (and often hydraulic) cabinets for games like Star Wars, Space Harrier, Paper Boy, Super Hang-On and After Burner.  Each one blew my adolescent mind in ways no home computer game ever did.  I whiled away my summer holidays not just playing these games, but seeking them out.  They all made great games, games that rewrote the book, games that live on today in one form or another and so the question of which arcade manufacturer was the greatest is probably quite a personal one. Let's look at my nominees:

Of all the classic arcade manufacturers, I feel Capcom are the ones to have survived the death of the coin-op the best.  They may not have made a home console or created the world's single most recognisable video game character, but by investing in new franchises, backing emerging developers and genuinely improving their existing franchises, Capcom is as much of a force in the industry as it has ever been.  And let's not forget, in 2009 they single-handed brought fighting games back into the limelight with the sublime Street Fighter IV, providing that if it is done right, traditional arcade games can still be relevant today.

My favourite Capcom arcade games include:

• 1940 series
• Bionic Commando
• Capcom Vs ... series
• Darkstalkers
• Final Fight
• Ghosts 'n' Goblins/Ghouls 'n' Ghosts series
• Power Stone series
• Street Fighter series
• UN Squadron 

How many video game characters are truly household names?  Lara Croft and Mario Mario?  Maybe, but I bet your gran hasn't heard of them, however, mention Pac-Man and you can guarantee people have not only heard of him, they can describe his appearance and maybe even the basics of the game.  So in terms of star status, few arcade developers can match Namco, but they are much more than a one trick pony.  They have created many of the greatest franchises in gaming and titles like Tekken 6 and Pac-Man Battle Royale continue to keep the arcade spirit alive today.

My favourite Namco arcade games include:

• Galaxian/Galaga series
• Dig-Dug
• Mr Driller
• Pac-Man series
• Ridge Racer series
• Rolling Thunder series
• Soul Calibur series
• Tekken series
• Time Crisis series 

What can you say about Sega.  The are one of the few arcade manufacturers to delve into the home console market and they were always trying to come up with new and interesting ways to extract the coins from our pockets.  When people talk about arcade games any number of actual games get mentioned, but if you ask people about arcade machines they almost always talk about Space Harrier or the ridiculous G-Loc R360 machine, that could rotate the player upside down with its gyroscopic cabinet.  Remember, going to the arcade was an experience beyond simply playing video games, which is why people like us are still so hung-up on those halcyon days and few manufacturers created as many memorable arcade experiences as Sega.

My favourite Sega arcade games include:

• After Burner series
• Alien Syndrome/Storm series 
• Altered Beast
• Columns series
• Choplifter
• Crazy Taxi
• Daytona USA
• Fantasy Zone series
• Galaxy Force
• Golden Axe series
• Hang-On series
• House of the Dead series
• Outrun series
• Sega Rally series
• Shinobi series
• Sonic the Hedgehog (yes, that did appear in the arcades)
• Space Harrier series
• Virtua Fighter series
• Virtua Tennis series
• Wonderboy series 
• Batman Forever pinball
• Jurassic Park pinball
• Goldeneye pinball
• The list goes on

And the winner is...

If you can't tell from the extensive list, for me the winner has to be Sega.  This probably comes as a shock to regular readers of this blog, given how much I blather on about Street Fighter, but overall, Sega's games had the biggest impact on me.  In truth a lot of this was to do with the flashy nature of their luxury cabinets, but what can I say, I was a boy when I played these games and the vein of nostalgia they created runs deep to this day. 

MTW

What is a boss fight?

Big Core boss from Gradius II

Bosses are extra tough enemies that turn up key points during a game, usually at the end of a level (hence why they are sometimes called 'end of level guardians') or sometimes half-way (known as 'mid-level bosses' or 'sub-bosses').  They are usually big, have incredibly powerful weapons, lots of health or armour and use cheap tactics to dispense of the player.
Traditionally bosses have one or more weak spots that you must exploit in order to defeat them. It's this weak spot that lead to one of the most famous phrases in arcade games, "Shoot the core!" It first appeared in Konami's classic Gradius II and was an instruction to the player on how to defeat a boss with a weak central core (pictured above-right).

There is some debate as to which was the first arcade game to introduce the concept of bosses. Some argue it was command ships in Namco's Galaxian (1979), some would cite the UFO in Atari's Asteroids (1979), while others say it was the motherships in Taito's Space Invaders (1978). However, none of these enemies really fit the description of a boss, as none of them were at the end of a level and none of them were particularly tough to beat.

Were any of these the first boss?

For a the first "typical boss" we need to look at three games by three different manufacturers that were all released in 1980. They were the samurai master from Sega's Samurai, the ninja from SNK's Sasuke vs Commander, and, perhaps most famous of all, the mothership from Taito's Phoenix.

To be honest, all you need to survive most boss encounters is the ability to learn their attack and defend patterns. Nonetheless, there's something empowering about facing down an enemy who, on paper, is completely out of your league. When people think about old games, you can guarantee they will mention at least one memorable boss. They almost define the game itself.

MTW

Homage Review: Orbitron Revolution (Xbox 360)

The grandfather of rock-hard, high-speed gaming, Defender, gets a modern make over in this high quality indie game for Xbox 360.

There's no denying Williams' Defender is one of the all-time greats of arcade gaming. There's also no denying it was an incredibly punishing game, with borderline oppressive difficulty and less than ergonomic controls. It was also very fast paced compared to other space shoot 'em ups of that era.  This new homage to the Williams classic manages to capture some of qualities and thankfully uses far more natural controls, but does it beat the old stalwart at its own game?

Orbitron Revolution from FireBase is an Xbox Live Indie game that stands head and shoulder above the competition in terms of visual quality and production values. The marketplace has plenty of ironically old skool-looking games, it also has far too many games that look like they were drawn by an 8 year-old in MS Paint, Orbitron Revolution, on the other hand, looks gorgeous and professional. It's up there with the likes of Omega Five and RoboBlitz in terms of graphics, but of course people don't love Defender because of its graphics.

The setup for the game is basically the same as Defender, in that the play field wraps around and you have to patrol this area, blasting aliens and defending key points. In Orbitron, you pilot a space fighter around the perimeter of a circular space station, blasting the aliens who are trying to destroy the ring by drilling one of four sectors. As well as destroying the alien drillers, you also have to to fend off the aliens protecting the drillers. Each driller you destroy initiates a new wave of aliens, which multiply in quantity and variety with each wave.

Defend the ring's four sectors with your life

Orbitron Revolution has three game modes. Guardian mode is the meat of the game. It's in this mode you have to defend the ring from drillers, as well as the other aliens. In Countdown mode ditches the drillers and just challenges you to survive for 3 minutes. Extra mode is the same as Guardian mode, except you only get one life. Given this mode is only unlocked if you can survive in Guardian mode for 3 minutes, you can imagine how challenging it is to make any progress in Extra mode at all.

In terms of progress, the game only has the one level. The aliens will keep coming, wave after wave, with very little variety, truth be told. As soon as all four sectors are destroyed, it's game over. So there's no end of level screens, no mid-game score totals, it's just a constant assault on the reflexes. Thankfully, you get a number of tools to help you survive. As well as your main laser, your ship has a Boost mode to help you travel between the sectors, a area of effect Wave Bomb and a linear Power Shot. In order to use any of these you need to collect the power cells that are dropped by the aliens when they're destroyed, which fills up a two-stage power meter. You can use the Boost whenever there's power in the meter, but you can only use the Wave Bomb when it's half full and you can only use the Power Shot when it's completely full. This presents its own challenge, as there are certain aliens, such as the Sword (which has rotates slowly around the ring with two laser beams emitting from either side of it) that can only be destroyed with Wave Bombs or Power Shots. There is one other tool at your disposable though: the Warp Gates. There are two Warp Gates on the ring, which, when entered, send you hurtling a quarter of the way around the ring at high speed, destroying any aliens you collide with on the way. This can be used tactically to destroy the tougher drillers, as long as you can aim your fighter.

Orbitron is a mixed bag. It looks great and feels the closer to Defender than any other game in recent memory, but the space fighters also feel rather too sluggish to do the job well. When surviving more than 3 or 4 minutes is a challenge, it might surprise you that travelling all the way around the ring can take 30 seconds or more if you don't use the Boost or Warp Gate. Which is a shame, because the controls are natural and tight. There's also so little variety, with only one level and only a handful of alien types, that if you don't enjoy the game's core mechanics you will get bored very quickly. Personally, I like it, but it's one of those games that I can play for 20 minutes, constantly trying again and again to beat my highscore, then I won't want to touch it again all day. But then Defender could be a bit like that too.

So this game looks good, play well enough and manages to be as challenging as the game that inspired it, if for slightly different reasons. Fans of Defender (or Juno First for that matter) could do worse than to check it out, especially when it costs a little over £2.

Plays like

• Defender
• Star Gate
• Juno First

Highs

• Proof Xbox Live Indie games can be made to the same high standards as the best of Xbox Live Arcade games.
• Challenging gameplay, with that "one more go" quality all the best arcade games have.
• Worth the 240 Microsoft Points if you're a fan of Defender or Juno First

Lows

• Very little variety.
• The fighter craft feel sluggish.
• No multiplayer.

Orbitron Revolution is available on Xbox Live Indie Games prince 240MSP (£2.04).