For Friday’s game I’ve posted two old Genesis Meg Drive games from the early 90’s, called True Lies (based around the Arnie film of the same name) and Empire of Steel (aka Steel Empire). Both have 8 bit graphics, but are still reasonably good to look at despite the graininess of them. Playing them in windowed mode takes away some of the grittiness if that bothers you, but full screen is much more immersive for me at least. For game play, both offer a good day worth of game play. The first is a top down shooter of the Alien shooter type, and the second is a side scrolling shooter. The games come with their own emulators, so you’ve nothing else to download. There’s a dizzying array of tools along the top of the screen when playing in windowed mode, but you don’t need to concern yourself with these as they are for emulating the genesis console right down to the TV scanning lines and the little red LED that lit up on the front of the console when the games were playing.
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True Lies: 1.70Mb
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Take all of the action from the hit movie True Lies, subtract the romance, and you've got one of the most exciting games ever encountered.
Take charge of gun toting Arnie in this top down omni-scrolling action shooter. Arnie takes on the terrorists using a variety of weapons in all the locations from the movie of the same name. In each location you have a mission such as retrieve data or capture a terrorist. This usually involves searching around for your goal while dispatching enemies and trying to minimise civilian casualties. The emphasis is on action and weapons, in particular Arnold's favourites: flame thrower and the uzi. He also has a diving roll to help him dodge the enemies bullets and come back guns blazing..
Melbourne's very own Beam software has done a fabulous job converting all the action sequences from the movie into the game. The action follows the movie closely, with a few extra levels thrown in for good measure. True Lies game is a top-down shoot-'em-up adventure, sort of like Commando with mission briefings or the on-foot sections of Urban Strike. You control Harry Tasker (Arnie) and begin where the film does in a Swiss chateau. Harry has to connect a modem to a PC in order to get information on bad-boy Crimson Jihad. To get to the computer, Harry must terminate lots of baddies but avoid popping any of the waiters or party guests. After downloading the information, it's time to get out of the chateau and head down the slopes towards your buddy Gib (Tom Arnold) who is waiting in a nearby truck. Tom gives you instructions as you complete each mission, and unfortunately isn't afraid to give the odd sarcastic wisecrack as well.Next comes the mall (watch out for the shoppers), the park, the subway, docklands, China, and the refinery. Then the actions really hots up, with the exciting battle at Florida Keys complete with Harrier jet, and the final confrontation with Jihad in a city office building.
In all levels, Arnie has to find certain items, battle armed hoodlums, and pick up enough ammo, weapons and medikits to escape alive. Weapons range from puny pistols to powerful shotguns and awesome grenades.
True Lies features:
• Secret missions
• Two-player action
True Lies is basically an overhead scroller with endless shootouts in places such as a chateau, a mall, a park, and a refinery, among others. The excellent controls include a diving roll and a strafing move that's incredibly useful. There's no shortage of ammo, and Harry is armed with uzis, flame-throwers, shotguns, and grenades. Enemies splatter with blood and fall to the ground when shot. But be careful! If you shoot three civilians, you'll need to restart the level. The game even incorporates Harry's partner (Tom Arnold), posting advice on the bottom of the screen. The background music is good, and the sound effects are remarkable. For example, when on the docks, you not only hear the water, but you can even hear the rats! The game climaxes with an exciting overhead shooting stage. A password saves your place. True Lies is an original game that really captures the spirit of a great film.
Enter never-before-seen secret missions in an attempt to overthrow your archrival and ensure safety for the rest of the world. You might have the assistance of your buddy, Gib, and some impressive artillery, but that doesn't mean this trip's going to be a cakewalk. With heavily-armed terrorists, surprise attacks, and devastating boss levels, True Lies delivers all of the action of the movies without the sappy endings and the expensive popcorn. With detailed graphics, plenty of levels and lots of variety, True Lies should keepaction fans happy for a long time.
System Requirements:
• CPU………………………..P-200
• Operating System…………Windows 9x, Windows 2000, Windows XP
• Game modes………………Single game mode, Multiplayer (HotSeat).
Download Link
http://www.games4win.com/games/true-lies/
The download link is near the top middle of the page. The game is an SNES emulated game. When you first boot up the game it will start in windowed mode. You can toggle between full screen and windowed mode by using the Esc key.
Cheats:
Secret Level - enter the password RSSHLS.
Construction Site Level - enter the password QFFCSS
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Video:
The first video is over 10 minutes in length, but is well worth watching especially if you’re not sure about downloading this game. The first 2mis 50 seconds is taken up showing excerpts from the film that the game was based on. Then you get a walk through of the game with commentary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-HkawDrax8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWhXzGivvpE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we_ITHLrW14&feature=related
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Steel Empire aka Empire of Steel:
Quote:
It is the age of steel, Mammoth battleships cruise the skies. Armored locomotives carry cannons the size of railway cars. Invincible fortresses float on air...and military might rules the day. The Motorhead Empire has conquered and enslaved most of the world.
Only one hope remains... The Republic of Silverhead. Their Z-01 Zeppelin flying ship launches lethal aerial-mines. Their Striker airplane fires armor piercing missiles. Their Lightning Bomb will reduce Motorhead's flame-shooting juggernauts to crumbling hunks of burning metal.
Enter a future that might have been. It's time to wage the war of the Steel Empire!
Steel Empire is a fast-paced scrolling shooter. Game play is linear in that the player is restricted to flying in only one direction, and the player will meet enemies in a pre-designated order. However, unlike many scrolling shooters, Steel Empire allows players to fire from behind as well as ahead.Ammunition is unlimited and players have the ability to collect level power-ups, which increase their firepower strength from level one to level 20. These and other power-ups may be collected by flying into them.
Players are given a certain number of "lives" and "continues". If a player loses a life, his craft simply reappears where it was destroyed. If the player loses all of his lives, then he must spend a "continue" and restart at the beginning of the level. Firepower level data is retained however throughout the course of the game. When all continues are expended, the game is over.
Powerups/Items:
Power-ups take the form of small, floating circular-shaped icons containing the following:
• B: Extra Lightning Bomb. This powerful bomb, when launched, will annihilate every minor enemy on the screen, and cause much damage to the larger ones.
• O: Pair of mini-ships that stay next to you, allowing a wider range of fire. They will remain with you until you lose a life.
• Heart: Small filling of the "vital" bar.
• L ((Ex) - on the U.S. version): Level points. Collecting these will raise your firepower level up to a maximum of 20.
• S: Adds 1,000 points to the player's score.
• 1-UP: Extra life
Power-ups can be obtained by blasting enemies. Some may be found just floating around. Blasting a mini-airship yields six power-ups, usually "L" or "S".
Cheats:
(I've not tested the following cheats - just not had the time)
Level Select
To pick any level, enter the Options screen. Now select the following sound tests: 1, 1, 9, 2, 2. A "Round" entry will appear in the options menu.
Extra Weapons
On the Options screen, set Difficulty to HARD, Ships to 3, Continues to 2, and Sound to 77. While playing, you can press B on Controller Two for level 20 firepower!
Extra Lives
On the Options screen, set Difficulty to HARD, Ships to 2, Continues to 1, and Sound to 65. When you begin the game, you'll have 99 ships!
Extra Bombs
On the Ship Selection screen, press C, A, C, A, Start, B. You will hear a chime, and when you start the game you'll have 99 bombs!
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Reviews worth reading:
http://www.meanmachinesmag.co.uk/review/312/steel-empire.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_Empire
and the following gives the game 3 out of 10.
(from the first review above; ignore the links that say Buy Steel Sky – that link leads to a page selling the original cassettes. Can you believe that they are trying to sell it for over $100. That’s a joke considering you can get an emulated one for free. Though I’ve read that many of the original games are exchanging hands at around $200 in Japan on the collectors market.
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDi7IrjYPX0&feature=related
Download Link:
http://www.gamefabrique.com/empire-of-steel.html
You can even download a PDF of the original documentation that came with the game including the sleeve art:
http://www.replacementdocs.com/download.php?view.83
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