A quirky robot run and gun platformer football team management sim are this week’s newly added titles.
The Antstream library just keeps growing as more titles are added. This week we have the robot run and gun platformer B.O.B. (SNES) and the chance to manage a football team with Premier Manager 98 (PlayStation).
B.O.B., otherwise known as Space Funky B.O.B. is a run and gun platformer that was originally released in 1993 by Electronic Arts on SNES and Megadrive. The game features the titular B.O.B., a humanoid robot, who happens to have been stranded on an alien planet. Packing in plenty of fun along the way, players are tasked with helping B.O.B. escape the planet, and two more that he will also be stranded on, and hopefully find love.
In the game, players will navigate from one map node to another and then play through each nodes level. The player has a time limit to reach the end, which is often hidden within the somewhat maze-like levels. Along the way, B.O.B. will have to avoid or destroy various enemies to reach that goal. To that end, the robot is armed with a handy gun which can be swapped out to fire in different patterns or ways, and that can be fired in most directions, even while hanging or climbing a ladder. B.O.B. is able to crouch, jump and hang from bars attached to the ceiling to avoid the various hazards. He is also equipped with a limited number of gadgets, such as a platform that can launch the robot to higher ledges. Ammunition for the gun and further gadget charges can be gathered along the way. Alongside the time limit, players have limited lives and running out of time will also result in losing a life.
The fifth game in the Premier Manager series, Premier Manager 98 launched for PC in 1997 before coming to PlayStation in 1998. Published by Gremlin Interactive, the game proved to be one of the highest selling games on 1998.
In Premier Manager 98, the player takes on the task of managing a football team. While not actually playing the game, players will be responsible for picking the players, setting training and tactics, player transfers and even some of the financial decisions. Two modes are on offer, with arcade allowing the player to choose their club and run with it, and simulation mode giving them the chance to start in the lower leagues and take their club to glory. The game is set in the 1997-1998 seasons and runs through the top four English football divisions.
This week’s challenge is “Evolution At Its Finest” in Mutation Nation (Arcade). There are also two tournaments running with the One Chance weekly tournament in Metal Slug, called “One Chance To Slug It Out”, and the “Restricted Access” monthly tournament in R-Type.
We’ll be back next week with more games to play anytime, anywhere.
