Nightdive Studios, SNEG, Ziggurat, Piko Interactive and others rereleasing classic games

[LESS T_T]

More re-releases from Pixel Games.

Impossible Mission... Remastered? Since the original was never released on IBM PC they remade the original for Windows, seemingly using C64 art. This is probably similar to other C64 games they released (Hungry Horace for example).

Ask anyone who loves retro games from back in the day if they remember ‘Impossible Mission’ – they will almost certainly answer you back with the synthesised voice response of “Stay a while, stay FOREVER!”

While this classic, and at the time ground-breaking, game was ported to nearly every computer and console format of the time, it surprisingly was never ported to IBM PCs (only the sequel was). This remastered version is one remade to work on current PCs, but replicating the original game as accurately as possible, with the addition of a secret hidden minigame.

Playing a secret agent (Agent 4125) on a mission to stop the evil Professor ‘Elvin Atombender’, who it is believed is tampering with the national security computers. You must infiltrate Atombender's lair, avoid his deadly robots (or use one of your limited ‘snooze codes’ on them!), and acquire the various pieces of a password for you to use in the main control room. You have 6 literal hours to complete the game; but 10 minutes of this time is lost each time you ‘die’ within the game, and a further 2 minutes are expended if you have use the help function on your mission ‘portable computer’. With 32 rooms and 90 robots it’s no wonder this mission has been classified as ‘Impossible’ – Good luck agent 4125!

A negative review for Hungry Horace remaster doesn't give me confidence about the quality of recreation though.


International Tennis Open, another Philips thing but it's more of a game this time, I guess. Developed by Infogrames.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

However they're bringing that "remastered" Impossible Mission game about, they're not using the source code - that was lost in the San Francisco quake of '89.

 

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Another Epyx game release from Pixel Games, Battle Bugs.

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko I see this is listed in your "DeclineDecent strategy games that aren't commercially available" thread.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

IIRC those news will please Darth Roxor

 

[Darth Roxor]

Ambivalent, actually, because the Battle Bugs I have on my HDD are perfectly playable in Dosbox

Regardless, Battle Bugs is a rock solid game. I highly recommend it to everyone. "Real-time strategy game" isn't an entirely accurate description though, because: a) It's more tactics than strategy, b) it's RTWP, c) all the missions have a very strong "puzzle" element to it, meaning that you often have to figure out a very specific approach that the devs made a level around. Still, it's very fun.

 

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Is Ziggurat a budget version of THQ Nordic?: https://venturebeat.com/2020/06/15/...gurat-interactive-acquires-publishing-rights/

BloodRayne to return from the dead as Ziggurat acquires rights

Ziggurat Interactive has purchased the sexy vampire BloodRayne video game franchise and other properties from Majesco in a bid to bring some retro PC titles back from the dead.

Ziggurat is working with Terminal Reality, the original developer of the BloodRayne series, to improve some existing titles on the PC and to explore new games in the BloodRayne universe.

The original title was published by Majesco Entertainment in 2002. It combined Nazi killing with a highly sexualized female vampire — a formula in the good old days for a popular game. Ziggurat is the latest game company to test the evergreen appeal of sexy vampires, which persists in pop culture alongside zombies as our favorite frights.

Denver, Colorado-based Ziggurat Interactive was recently formed by entrepreneur Wade Rosen as a publisher of multiplatform retro and modern games. Ziggurat also purchased Advent Rising, Raze’s Hell, and Flip’s Twisted World, which now join Ziggurat’s catalog of more than 200 intellectual properties.

Ziggurat Interactive said it is working with Terminal Reality, to update the PC versions of the BloodRayne games for better compatibility and other improvements. Ziggurat is also developing plans to further explore and expand BloodRayne’s universe.

Rosen, president of Ziggurat Interactive, said in a statement that BloodRayne has a huge fan base (the original game spawned three games, a comic book series, and three Uwe Boll movies). He said players the world over fondly remember titles like BloodRayne and Advent Rising, and his company takes seriously the opportunity to bring these games to a new audiences and expand the universes.

Mark Randel, president of Terminal Reality, said in a statement his team is excited to revisit one of its favorite game series and make it available to a new audience.

The original third-person horror action series BloodRayne introduced gamers to Rayne, a brutal half-vampire beauty traveling the world to foil Nazi plans, battle supernatural threats, and uncover more about her own complex past.

Ziggurat Interactive was launched in late 2019 with the goal of preserving and expanding the legacy of video games.

Features and enhancements of the Terminal Cut edition, created by the game’s original development team:

• Support for higher display resolutions (up to 4K / 3840x2160).
  
• Upscaled cinematic videos
  
• Support for modern gamepads (XInput)
  
• Improved rendering with up to 4x anti-aliasing
  
• Support for higher texture resolutions allowing for use of original, uncompressed textures
  
• Improvements to effects such as reflections, water, fog, and shadows

They'll be free upgrades to the existing owners.

 

[Infinitron]

Trailer:

 

[Morgoth]

Never played the BloodRayne series. Is there anything special about them?

 

[Darth Roxor]

The first one is a great slasher. Haven't played the second.

 

[Black]

Never played the BloodRayne series. Is there anything special about them?

There's a big tiddied goth redhead.

 

[Bad Sector]

Both are good action games but i remember thinking that the second has a bit too many cutscenes... and i always liked how Rayne looked in the first game more even if she's more detailed in the second game.

Also considering how long it has been since the last game (and they were never too mainstream games) Bloodrayne cosplay is somehow still very popular...

(yes there is also Ferrill cosplay)

 

[Morgoth]

Never played the BloodRayne series. Is there anything special about them?

There's a big tiddied goth redhead.

Yeah but she also seems to be an annoying Feminazi.

 

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Pixel Games goes back to 80s era of Epyx, Jumpman, the one who he is not Mario.

One of the earliest games in the platformer genre, Jumpman sees you take on the role of an intrepid agent tasked with collecting and disarming deadly bombs laid by the evil Alienators. Traverse the 30 challenging levels of Jupiter headquarters, running, climbing and jumping from platform to platform - but watch out! A single misstep will send you tumbling to the ground!

Originally released in 1983, Jumpman became the first big hit for developer Epyx, and remains an icon of the platformer genre.

Features

• 30 different levels
  
• 5 different modes (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Grand Loop and Randomizer)
  
• Play with up to 4 players in a round-robin fashion

 

[Wunderbar]

Never played the BloodRayne series. Is there anything special about them?

the first one is a neat atmospheric action adventure full of swamps, mutated hillbillies, nazis, dark magic, vampires and other exploitation horror tropes.
the second one is a bit better gameplay-wise, but has blander and generic aesthetics cuz it's set in modern times instead of 40s.

 

[Riskbreaker]

Never played the BloodRayne series. Is there anything special about them?

the first one is a neat atmospheric action adventure full of swamps, mutated hillbillies, nazis, dark magic, vampires and other exploitation horror tropes.
the second one is a bit better gameplay-wise, but has blander and generic aesthetics cuz it's set in modern times instead of 40s.

The first game shows that same love for atmosphere and imagery of older horror movies that you see in their older title, Nocturne.
Don't really remember much about the sequel.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Pixel Games goes back to 80s era of Epyx, Jumpman, the one who he is not Mario.

One of the earliest games in the platformer genre, Jumpman sees you take on the role of an intrepid agent tasked with collecting and disarming deadly bombs laid by the evil Alienators. Traverse the 30 challenging levels of Jupiter headquarters, running, climbing and jumping from platform to platform - but watch out! A single misstep will send you tumbling to the ground!

Originally released in 1983, Jumpman became the first big hit for developer Epyx, and remains an icon of the platformer genre.

Features

• 30 different levels
  
• 5 different modes (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Grand Loop and Randomizer)
  
• Play with up to 4 players in a round-robin fashion

I played the shit out of this one on a PC Booter in the late 1980s (meaning this is probably the same version). This one does not hold your hand at all.

Each level has a "gimmick" which must be sussed out and played with/around. Some levels will have unique enemies, some levels will have parts of the architecture change/disappear for every bomb collected, and some levels are just fucking mean - one early level has the lights go out for every other bomb you collect, have fun jumping around in the dark!

Thanks to the game's random mode, I could master 29 of the 30 levels, but level 30 (Grand Puzzle III) can only be reached by beating the other 29 levels in sequence - and that's quite a feat.

I'm not sure the MS-DOS version is the best one to play - the C-64 one has more colors and better sound, but I'm unsure about the speed of it.

Odds are good that if Jumpman sells, they'll try to add Jumpman Junior as well.

 

[LESS T_T]

Ziggurat releases three games from 80s, 90s, and 2000s.

Bop'N Wrestle:

Cyclemania:

Deadly Dozen: Pacific Theater:

 

[LESS T_T]

They finally announced the official release of Powerslave EX, but no date yet: https://www.gamasutra.com/view/pres..._to_GOG_and_announces_enhanced_PowerSlave.php

In addition to these releases, Throwback Entertainment has reached an agreement with Nightdive Studios to port an enhanced version of PowerSlave to PC and consoles. No date for release has been set.

“We’re happy to be working with Nightdive on the next chapter of PowerSlave. It has been a long road for everyone and we can’t wait to see it in the hands of gamers around the world,” said Thomas Maduri, chairman of Throwback Entertainment.

Stephen Kick, CEO of Nightdive Studios, added, "We are very excited at the prospect of working with our friends at Throwback Entertainment on this and future projects. We wholeheartedly support the idea of allowing fans to play the original game while also working on a remaster for the future."

 

[Infinitron]

Those Bloodrayne remasters are out, on GOG too:

https://af.gog.com/game/bloodrayne_terminal_cut?as=1649904300
https://af.gog.com/game/bloodrayne2_terminal_cut?as=1649904300

 

[LESS T_T]

They finally announced the official release of Powerslave EX, but no date yet: https://www.gamasutra.com/view/pres..._to_GOG_and_announces_enhanced_PowerSlave.php

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

However they're bringing that "remastered" Impossible Mission game about, they're not using the source code - that was lost in the San Francisco quake of '89.

Sauce?

I lived through that earthquake and it was one of the more formative episodes of my childhood, but I didn't know it impacted the software industry/preservation.

 

[LESS T_T]

Speaking of that, looking at reviews and forum for its "remaster", the recreation sounds awful as expected.

Just awful. even for less than 2 bucks it's not worth it. The gameplay isn't the same, the graphics can be glitch, the sound is awful. This game is where I would expect a public beta would be at, not a released product. Completely disappointed. I returned, basic playtesting with someone who has played the original would have told the publisher that this game in it's current state (mid November of 2020) is half baked.

English (for the italian review, scroll down):
Bought on Day One. Totally unplayable: entering on any rooms it doesen't show the platforms (see the screenshots) so the player falls off and die in loop.
Other than that: slower animation with not matching sounds (for example the footsteps), glitchy graphics (for example when alighed behind the side of the lift, the character "trembles").
At current state, it's garbage.
It's faithful in one thing: it resembles perfectly the glitchy bootleg games for the Commodore 64 you could get at the newspaper's in the 80s.

all rooms are empty man is falling empty room

 

[Unkillable Cat]

However they're bringing that "remastered" Impossible Mission game about, they're not using the source code - that was lost in the San Francisco quake of '89.

Sauce?

Retro Gamer #122, page 48. They don't mention which earthquake specifically, but I recall reading about that somewhere else.

 

[LESS T_T]

Yet another "remaster" treatment from Pixel Games. Ocean Software's 1985 ZX Spectrum game N.O.M.A.D..

Looks like all these remaster work for Pixel Games is done by this guy: https://www.purpleviking.com/

 

[LESS T_T]

Another Epyx-published game from Pixel Games, Snow Strike:

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And little bit more tease from Nightdive: https://www.pcgamer.com/powerslave-...lassic-is-coming-back-in-an-enhanced-edition/

A studio rep said Powerslave is being given "the full Kex treatment," a reference to the Kex Engine that's also used in other Nightdive updates including Blood: Fresh Supply, Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, and Forsaken Remastered. A release date hasn't been set yet, but the rep also teased other projects in the works, saying, "This is not the only project that we are working on with Throwback, [but] this is the only one that we are ready to discuss."

Throwback has catalog from Acclaim and Infogrames. https://throwbackentertainment.com/company/

Canadian-based Throwback Entertainment Inc. develops, creates, and publishes immersive and interactive gaming titles. Throwback Entertainment owns the rights, title and interest in over 300 titles and brands from Acclaim Entertainment, Crave Games, Ocean, Infogrames, LJN, Mirrorsoft, Probe Entertainment, Iguana Entertainment, Sculptured Software, Software Creations, PSS, Image Works, Mirror Image, Arena Entertainment, Flying Edge and others.