Back again for our regular Sunday roundup of quick-fire reviews and impressions of everything under the spotlight at Retro Arcadia this week, old and new and a bit of both. As is often the case, it’s mostly the latter this week, although that does tend to come in all shapes and sizes, so never a bad thing! Additionally, I did spend about another ten hours on Death Stranding on PlayStation 4 (more here), as well as loads more dabbling with everything on my new Neo Geo Limited Edition Super Pocket handheld (more here), but not a lot more to say on either just yet, so let’s see what else has been going on…

I first played Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker a few months back on the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection on PlayStation 3, but by the end became so captivated by it that I decided to look out for a copy of the PlayStation Portable original on eBay while I was playing my way through the rest of the series… And with mission now accomplished on both fronts, here we are all over again! This started life as the fifth MGS game when it appeared exclusively on PSP back in 2010, and finds our man Snake in Costa Rica in 1974, taking down yet another rogue paramilitary group holding the world to ransom while also running his own private army – which I really wasn’t keen on when it first started interrupting my stealth-action on PS3 but it really grew on me by the end, and was a big part of the longevity I could see taking on the go with me if I ever got hold of this PSP version. Sadly, really getting the most out of the game is no longer feasible with the issues getting a PSP online nowadays, but solo play is plenty, and what’s there is proper Metal Gear too, albeit a bit more bitesize in level design but definitely not in scope, supported by trademark lengthy but sometimes interactive hand-illustrated cutscenes, so pay attention! The voice-acting is all there too, and it looks very impressive on here too – more so than I imagined after returning from the upscaled, resolution-boosted, performance-supported HD version… Just wish it controlled the same too! The button mapping is clever and the analog nub is fine but you’ve got to use it in continuous combination with the camera controls on the d-pad right above it, and that never feels natural, and it’s hardly practical in the heat of some huge mech battle either – actually, it’s maybe even worse when you’re in full sneak mode surrounded by regular enemies! You can forgive and forget though, as clunky as it can be, and I did exactly that with its PSP predecessor, Portable Ops, so give it time, and now I’ve got it handheld, I should have plenty of that too!

I’m a big fan of Psikyo’s Strikers 1945 series of alternate World War II-ish vertically-scrolling shoot ‘em ups, and this week I’ve been back to the first of three of them included on Psikyo Shooting Library Vol. 1 for PS4. Strikers 1945 was first unleashed on the arcades back in 1995, and is set just after the conclusion of the war, when a mysterious organisation called C.A.N.Y. arrives about forty years too early with a bunch of transforming robot super-weapon things that may or may not be of alien origin… It’s effectively souped-up 1942 with a load of futuristic tech and enormous mechs disguised as battle ships and tanks and the like, which you need to take down over the course of eight levels. The first five of these are set in Europe, and in classic Psikyo-style, come at you in random (but increasing difficulty) order before you head off into the stars for the rest. It’s fast-paced and fast-shooting too, sometimes approaching bullet-hell, with high-density, variable speed firepower spewing out of everything that moves, also in classic Psikyo-style! Tons of enemies from every direction too, with intimidating but well-balanced bosses that start one thing and end up another, which all goes some way to disguising what can be some dull, above the clouds environments, although where you find yourself can be hugely dramatic in places as well, depending on the level you’re in. Sound can be a bit repetitive too, and the music is little more than functional, but you’ll barely notice any of that stuff anyway because it’s all about the gameplay, which feels both challenging and exhilarating all at once, and those random order opening levels give you loads to sink your teeth into from the outset; loads of difficulty levels and different planes to fly too, all making this a very special start to a very special bunch of shooters!

A few months back, this “modern” incarnation of Caverns of Mars on the Atari 2600 we’re closing with this week was the reason I finally paid attention to the 1981 original Atari 8-bit version, some forty-four years after the fact (more here), and I wasn’t only very glad I did because it was fantastic, but in turn it also convinced me to buy a 2600 copy, and I’ve finally done that too! It all follows on from getting my Atari 2600+ console last Christmas, which this official boxed cartridge release from Atari in 2024 was primarily aimed at, I guess, although it’s also fully backwards-compatible with the original console (and Atari 7800) too. Like the original home computer game, it’s a multi-phase tunnel shooter, with you descending through various fiendishly-shaped caverns to activate a bomb at the bottom, get back out, then move on to the next of six levels, but it’s also a bit of a reimagining too… It’s actually based on an old homebrew take on the original for the 2600 from 2006 called Conquest of Mars, and offers four skill levels that gradually introduce more stages to each cavern, starting with negotiating a tunnel, then fending off rockets, passing laser gates, avoiding space mines and navigating a maze before piloting your ship through the enemy base to the bomb before escaping, which is common to all difficulties. And good luck with anything beyond Novice because it’s proper old-school unforgiving, and that’s before you consider keeping your fuel topped up (Scramble-style) and the limited time to escape! The presentation is great, big and bold with typically punchy 2600 sound effects on top, and as hard as it is, it’s totally fair too, with precise controls that mean getting sent back to the start of each stage is always on you! It does give you continues if you want though, which are great for learning your way because you really have to, but it’s really good fun doing so before you have one more proper run for a high score, then another and another… And on top of that, I just love the fact that new Atari 2600 cartridges are still being released the best part of half a century on!

I did have a quick go on that new Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 remastered, revamped, remaked thing on Xbox Game Pass too, but that series has never been for me and this was no different. I installed Robocop: Rogue City, which just arrived on there as well, but I’ve not so much as seen the title screen yet, so hopefully we’ll get to that next week, so for now, I reckon that’s your lot for this one! More to come next Wednesday though, when we’ll be rediscovering WWF Superstars on Nintendo Game Boy, and Hulk Hogan in your hands at last! Then we’ll be back as usual, same time, same place but different stuff next Sunday to do this all over again. Hopefully see you for one or the other or even better both, or catch me anywhere on social media below in the meantime…

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