Page 29 - Old School Gamer Magazine Issue #40 FREE Edition

uncomplicated time of our lives. Some things never get old, it just ‘is,’ just like it ‘always was.’
‘Your Middle School song playlist
is like this. Whatever your age, you hear something off your old playlist and get filled with nostalgia. It’s really fun to have been involved with something as classic as Missile Command. It’s something that resonates with so many people’s childhood. I’ve met people all over the world, when I tell them I made video games, they always ask, ‘Anything I would know?’ and invariably so many people have not only heard of Missile Command, but many also have fond memories of playing it or playing it with their Dad. For a few minutes, they go back there - right in front of me. It’s an honor having made something that connects people with their youths.”
MODERN RETRO: ONE: Playstation, SCULPTURED SOFTWARE, 1997
One, a new addition to the platform’s streaming library, is an interesting adventure on the AntStream Arcade. Your main character is
in a fight for his life from the first second you fire the game up, which gives One a ton in common with a Hollywood action flick as well as a classic arcade shooting experience.
If nothing else, it’s a simple exercise in showing as much strength as possible and hiding weakness. That weakness is the game basically
has no real story. It’s not that long either.
Again, these aren’t detriments. Despite just being six levels long, each level was paced in a way where it was almost impossible to stop playing once you started. Add in asynchronous loading,
a development technique that leveraged the Playstation console’s RAM during gameplay to limit load time and One absolutely had the heart of a classic arcade game inside of it. That was no mistake, either. Simply put, it was ahead
of its time when it was originally
released. So much so that it failed to be a true commercial hit, but nearly 30 years later, it’s an undeniable gem with fun gameplay, perfectly suited for short and long gaming sessions online.
“All the programmers and most of the artists were hardcore gamers,” developer Ron Pieket said of the team that comprised One. “That certainly influenced the direction
of the game. The game design wasn’t mine, and I don’t know what inspired the designers. The visual effects, however, are mostly mine and they were inspired by the game I had worked on previously, Die Hard Trilogy.”
With a hearty helping of explosions, enemies, weapons, and action as well, One always feels frenetic, but with the beginning of the 3D era, certain sacrifices had to be made
to the complete package to get the game finished, hence the lack of what would be considered a real
story. This actually ended up as one of the game’s biggest strengths.
“The lead designer wanted to develop a story for the game. It became clear however that the story would end up being rather cliché and would be too costly and time- consuming to develop anyway,” Pieket said. “Cinematics were not in the budget. It was my idea to reduce the entire storyline to four words: ‘I made a mistake’ and leave the rest to the player’s imagination.”
A LITTLE BIT OF BOTH: THE IMMORTAL: SEGA GENESIS/MEGA DRIVE, ELECTRONIC ARTS, 1990
The Immortal is easily one of the most polarizing experiences on the AntStream Arcade. Armed with a unique isometric camera view and featuring a cool medieval story as well as puzzle-solving elements and dungeon-crawling combat, Will Harvey’s The Immortal isn’t a game you’d expect from Electronic Arts on the Sega Genesis. As a matter of
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