Quik the Thunder Rabbit

Yet more speedy hares to add to the collection

The latest addition? "Quik the Thunder Rabbit". A game featuring a small blue running creature that attacks enemies by rolling into them... sound familiar? Developed by a company known as Stywox and released in 1994 by Titus, Quik the Thunder Rabbit was one of many Sonic alternatives for the Amiga, DOS computers and the short-lived CD32 console. Its creators have dropped off the face of the earth and these days the game is considered abandonware. But it's a Sonic clone... you can't not take a look.

Fairy Godmother

Back in the day my neighbours obtained a DOS games compilation on CD. I used to go around to their house and play it, and it was the bee's knees as well as the bee's thighs, shins and ankles. Problem is the disc was never mine, and as it held something ridiculous like 250 titles on it, there are loads of games I played as a child that I simply can't remember. I've recovered and potentially liberated Onesimus, Oscar and Llamatron 2112 from the depths of obscurity but my work is not done.

So now for another entry from the days of old. Fairy Godmother, or "FGodMom" because as you can see, not much thought was put into title screen space. Since we last met, old Fairy Godmother has been withered by time and has become a fairly unpleasant experience to work with, but it's not so much the graphics and sound that define a game, it's how it plays... and FGodMom hasn't lost its magic in that department just yet.

Galaxy Force (II)

I've been doing quite a bit of work for the ambitious project Sega Retro as of late, and even though I already knew more than my fair share of Sega trivia, I'm still learning facts I probably won't need to succeed in life. Between 1985 and 1992 for example, the entire department of Sega AM2 seem to have been set on flushing out psudo-3D third person shooters/racers that were reliant on hardware that could scale and rotate sprites at will. Sega made half a dozen arcade boards that take advantage of this, including the Sega X and Y Boards which couldn't do much else. Makes you wonder why it took so long for their home consoles to take advantage of this technology.

Anyway today's subject is this, Galaxy Force II. You possibly might recognise this one - it's a B-list Sega Mega Drive title, similar to the likes of Super Thunder Blade. Brilliant in the arcades, extremely watered down at home, and not particularly appealing to new users, yet it still shows up in compilations and re-releases in its Mega Drive form. Most reviewers shove Galaxy Force II on the PILE OF MEDIOCRITY, and is only brought on special occasions to make some comment about how it's not Star Fox on the SNES. Shame on them.

Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth

Castlevania hasn't really been my thing, mostly because it's made its home on platforms I don't own in territories I don't live in. For years I thought it was a Japanese take on horror, with added depression thrown in to make sure it didn't appeal to anybody, and that's because for years only one Castlevania game crossed my path: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on the Sega Saturn. And it was a Japanese exclusive. And all the art for it was questionable.

Though I've caught up a bit since, I've still yet to sit down and complete a Castlevania game. I haven't been treated to the same level of frustration as the Americans, but all that has changed thanks to Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth on WiiWare.

Columns

All Sega fans of a certain age know about this one. It was Sega's answer to Tetris (sort-of), and it's a horrible game that keeps coming back to haunt us, never improving and never matching the power of Tetris. Being one of the simplest (and most likely smallest) games for that system, it popped up in numerous compilations too boost the game count and help drive sales. It's droning, repetitive music killing brain cells until we inevitably pluck up the courage to say "to hell with Columns" and turn off the console. Or maybe that's just me.