Hi, I’m Daniel Thurman

Daniel reviews cyberpunk books, games, and more.

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  • Intellivania Is a Port of Castlevania for the Intellivision

    The very first Castlevania game is an 8-bit masterpiece. Originally released for the Famicom Disk System, then later ported to the NES cartridge format for release in the West, it is considered an all-time classic. Castlevania didn’t see many ports back in those days outside of one for the MSX home computer. That version was distinctly different than the NES title and considered by most to be inferior to it’s NES counterpart. Thanks to genius homebrew guru Matthew Kiehl, we now have Intellivania, a port of the NES Castlevania for the Intellivision. Yes, the Intellivision.

    The Intellivision, originally released in 1979, touts a pretty devout homebrew community. I’ve seen some impressive work done for the system in recent years. Intellivania however far surpasses anything I’ve seen released for the system. Bridging the gap between fan game, homebrew, demake, and console port, Intellivania has to be seen to be believed.

    As seen in the video above, the graphics, animation, and depth of gameplay featured in Intellivania are incredibly impressive, especially for the Intellivision and it’s limited capability. And while it can’t hold a candle to the original, this Intellivision port is still beautiful and its very existence is something that is but should not be. At least not in this capacity. It looks pretty much like a one to one port of the original, capturing the essence of the original game in all its glory.

    Intellivania was originally released as a boxed physical cartridge with beautiful artwork (as seen in this article’s featured image) created by Rudy Wilde. Now it’s been released digitally as a ROM download. The digital game is purchasable via Intellivision Collector and can be played on your choice of Intellivision emulators.

    Have you played Intellivania? If so, please let us know what you thought in the comments. This might be something that I will have to sink my teeth into for this upcoming Castlevania season. If I do I’ll be sure and write up a review, so keep an eye out for that. Maybe.

    [Source: INDIERETRONEWS via Time Extension]

  • The Neo Geo Pocket Color Version of Mega Man Battle & Fighters Is Now on Switch for Some Reason

    Mega Man Battle & Fighters was suddenly published on the Nintendo eShop yesterday with no marketing or noise-making of any kind by the publisher. So it naturally took a lot of people by surprise considering, I mean, it’s Mega Man. Typically there is something said to hype people up for it in advance when it comes to long established franchises like that. But no, not a peep at all.

    In any case, if you were not already aware, Mega Man Battle & Fighters is actually a Neo Geo Pocket Color port of both Mega Man: The Power Battle and Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters and was released in 2000. These were the the two arcade Mega Man games released by Capcom in 1995 and 1996 respectively. They are combined into one game here with reworked graphics, design, and more.

    Like the arcade games, Mega Man Battle & Fighters is a one on one boss rush sort of thing. You take on famous Mega Man bosses from Mega Man 1-7 and then ultimately fight Dr. Wily at the end. Some original story was added as well that lends to the Mega Man canon. The arcade versions of these games were actually just recently released on switch via Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium. Capcom surprised a lot of Mega Man fans by including them, myself included.

    This is even more surprising though, somehow. More so because no one knew it was coming than because it’s a fairly obscure Mega Man game. Part of this may have something to do with the fact that is is published by SNK rather than Capcom. In any case, it came out of nowhere and I am delightfully surprised. Not because this is better than the arcade games. It isn’t. Though it’s not bad by any stretch. I actually love the 8-bit style graphics that hearken back to NES-era Mega Man. More becaues it is a historical curiosity and it’s good to have for that reason alone. I’d wager few people outside Japan have played this game aside from historians or hardcore Mega Man fans who had sought it out.

    Now they can, and that is always a good thing! It’ll set you back $7.99 to experience this little historical gem.