Cowabunga it’s time to smash up some henchmen, Turtle style.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants is a 2.5D beat’em up to the likes of old school Streets of Rage.

Developed to be a multiplayer title, one to four players can take on the role of each Turtle; Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael.

There are five playable environments selectable immediately; Sewer, New York City (NYC), Amusement Park, Dimension X and T.C.R.I.

The final environment is Shredder, which you will need to play through to unlock.

There’s onslaughts with waves of enemies including notable Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters in a cartoon stylised fight fest.

Turtle Power power-ups and weapons will appear during a battle for you. Pizza drops are essential, as you’ll need to keep your health up and anything that it is highlighted in the environment can be used as a weapon.

Once a full bout has wrapped up you get scored on your play, your pick ups, your take downs, bosses completed and you’re added to the leaderboard.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade:Wrath of the Mutants is very much a classic Arcade game. A lot of fun, for sure, and better in multiplayer.

Playing solo is simply an excellent way to kill time.

Graphically, the game could do with some attention, but Wrath of the Mutants has an endless replayable value.

Take back the streets, sewers and more with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants.

The post TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants (PlayStation 5) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

They were the rebels. The literal game changers and the kings of the Arcade.

With legendary franchises such as Mortal Kombat and the creative genius of Ed Boon Midway Games produced titles that no one else dared to make.

It was the 80s and 90s, home consoles were slowly on the rise after a slump, but for the most part gamers could be found in Arcade parlours pumping their coins in to machines that produced addictive gameplay and eye watering graphics in a high adrenaline atmosphere that only a video games Arcade could produce.

Insert Coin from Cargo Films is a documentary on the heydays of Midway Games’ reign of the Arcade machines.

Speaking with the game developers of the time who share their experiences, their triumphs and their frustrations to produce quality hit after hit to keep those coins rolling from gamers pockets.

Midway Games were the risk takers of their time, championing motion-capture and they weren’t afraid of controversy – of which they received a lot of when the slew of earlier Mortal Kombat games released.

But Midway also felt as though they could do anything, and they did – and this eventually added to their downfall where the company filed for Chapter 11 (Bankruptcy) in 2009.

Like an ode to an industry favourite produced by Arcade gaming fan Joshua Tsui, Insert Coin takes a deep dive into the beginnings of the game studio through to the time that the realisation hit that Arcades had been superseded by home consoles to the likes of Sega and Nintendo, with the last Arcade machine having been produced in 2001.

To any retro game fan seeing Insert Coin is a definite and for the younger gamers out there who missed the wave of the Arcade Parlours, watch this doco to see how the games you play now at home, online and stream got their beginnings.

Insert Coin – a film that needed to be made.

The post Insert Coin (Cargo Film) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

From a memorable 80’s film franchise to a revisited 2020 series – and now a video game.

Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues adapts it’s own story from the current conclusion of the Netflix series, where you first much choose a side; Miyagi-Do dojo or the game’s namesake (and the most kick ass) Cobra Kai.

Depending on which side you choose at the onset reflects the story path that you are about to play.

All of the series’ characters are there, Danny, Miguel, Hawk, Johnny and more.

Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues is a multi-tiered level beat’em up.

Very similar to the likes of arcade classics, Double Dragon and Streets of Rage.

As the narrative plays out bit by bit you will find yourself in mostly familiar scenes from the TV series with a horde of cloned enemies milling about, waiting to take you on.

As you meet other characters from your dojo they join in to your party and you can swap your main fighter on the fly during play. Handy if you’re up against a challenging boss.

You also have super moves and upgrades.

Styled in cell-shade fans of the Netflix series are likely going to love this playable extension to the series, as will old school gamers.

Actors from the series have stepped in to do the voices of their respective characters too.

But if you’re looking for something gritty and more indepth you wont find it with Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues.

It is an arcade beat’em up with a ‘Cobra Kai’ splash of paint, best played in multi-player.

The post Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues (PS4) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

AtGames in partnership with TAITO Corporation, a leading producer of legendary video games, has announced that 47 of TAITO’s original arcade classics, including Space Invaders, Rastan, Qix, Operation Wolf, Bubble Bobble, Cadash, and Zoo Keeper are now available on Legends Arcade Family products.

These products, which include the full-size Legends Ultimate home arcade, Legends Gamer Pro wireless tabletop controller, and other devices with authentic controls, run on the Legends Arcade Platform, which allows for a range of impressive connected features, including ArcadeNet, BYOG, and universal global leaderboards.

Thanks to the flexibility of the Legends Arcade Family products, each of the 47 games (list below), which appear bundled together for the very first time, can be played with authentic arcade controls and in their original aspect ratios.

For even more authenticity with classic light gun games like Operation Wolf and Operation Thunderbolt, players can not only use an arcade-quality trackball, but also compatible light guns like the AimTrak or AtGames BitBlaster.

These TAITO arcade games are also being integrated into the exclusive AtGames Leagues Leaderboards (ALL) feature, which lets players on the Legends Arcade Platform compete on universal global leaderboards. Some of the great TAITO arcade games already leaderboard-enabled are Alpine Ski, Chack ‘n Pop, Colony 7, Kiki KaiKai, Liquid Kids, and Lunar Rescue.

The 47 TAITO arcade games are:

Alpine Ski

Battle Shark

Ben Bero Beh

Bonze Adventure

Bubble Bobble

Cadash

Cameltry

Chack ‘n Pop

Colony 7

Crazy Balloon

Don Doko Don

Elevator Action

Elevator Action Returns

Football Champ

Front Line

Growl

Gun & Frontier

Halley’s Comet

KiKi KaiKai

Kram

Kuri Kinton

Liquid Kids

Lunar Rescue

Metal Black

Nastar Warrior

Operation Thunderbolt

Operation Wolf

Pirate Pete

Plotting

Plump Pop

Qix

Raimais

Rastan

Space Gun

Space Invaders

Space Invaders DX

Syvalion

The Electric Yo-Yo

The Fairyland Story

The Legend of Kage

The New Zealand Story

The Ninja Kids

Thunder Fox

Violence Fight

Volfied

Wild Western

Zoo Keeper

These 47 TAITO arcade games, which are available via a standard firmware update, are part of the growing number of built-in, licensed games on Legends Arcade Family products like the Legends Ultimate and Legends Gamer series. Other current and future Legends Arcade Family products feature a similarly impressive mix of licensed arcade and console titles.

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The post 47 TAITO Arcade Classics Featured on Legends Arcade Family appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Slay on Switch!

A modern day classic in all of it’s pixelated gloriness from the 16BIT era thanks to developers, Pixel Licker and publisher FDG Entertainment (Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom).

The action platformer puts you in the shoes (and armour) of a Knight to start out with, then eventually one of six playable heroes; Knight, Mage, Ninja and more become unlocked, then it is up to you to try and survive each of the 100+ Levels in what is an endless RPG.

Each Level is double tiered and while you do not move screens there’s enough monsters to kill as you traverse through the world.

At the end of each bout you will come across a Boss, as equally large as it is hard. You die in Slay’in 2, you die for good – just like the good ole days of cartridge games.

A couple of game modes are on offer; Story Mode and Arcade with multiplayer co-op.

A perfectly orchestrated 16BIT soundtrack sets you in the mood for the retro monster killing.

You will work your way from Level to Level via the world map and each battle takes around 10 to 15 minutes. Perfect for a quick pick up and play.

Enemies drop collectables and you can use some these to upgrade your armour and weapon, aswell as talking with NPC’s throughout the game and completing side quests you’ll reap rewards much needed in battle.

Being a 8BIT and 16BIT gamer fan that I am, and the fact that when I have the time I still play some of the old classics, I figured I’d be able to rip through Slay’in 2. Quick fights but not quick to complete – Slay’in 2 will test your retro gaming skills almost from the get-go.

Slay’in 2 is a game that is both as addictive as it compels you to play more.

There are dragon’s that must be taken down, so get Slay’in all over again on your Switch now.

The post Slay’in 2 (Switch) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Elves, warlocks, mech’s and every character from Overwatch descended upon Melbourne for the weekend that was the three day Video Gaming and pop culture extravaganza PAX Australia 2019.

Every major gaming platform had a presence.

PlayStation showcasing some up and comings with a heavy influence on the reboot of their MediEvil.

Activision kitted out with a very impressive Call of Duty: Modern Warfare stand while Nintendo’s large footprint in the main hall had a swag on Switch’s ready with their latest and greatest.

Xbox showcased Gears 5 as queues of game playing fans lined up for a hands on the newest chapter of the epic and long running series.

Even THQNordic kitted the main hall out with their soon to be released reboot of Destroy All Humans and a title that I am eagerly awaiting, Biomutant.

Myself and Darren from STG roamed the expansive Melbourne Convention Center aiming for hands-on’s aswell as some exclusive stuff.

Our mates at Riot Games took care of us and in a closed briefing introduced their up and coming card battle game Legends of Runeterra.

A title that places the hottest and fav characters from the League of Legends lore and combines both strategy and old fashioned table top game play in a fierce battle against live opponents and A.I.

Legends of Runeterra has been built to accommodate newcomers to the card battle scene with an easy tutorial and even easier pick up and play.

NVIDIA took us in to a showcase for their ray-tracing work.

The first game to exclusively and fully make use of ray-tracing was CONTROL. NVIDIA applied this real-world-like effect to Minecraft and wow – what a huge difference it makes.

If you’re not too sure what ray-tracing is, it is a lighting and shadow physical and particle effect that is built in for developers of video games to use, making reflections, the said lighting and shadows and even textures becoming almost 4D (4 Dimensional).

Blurring the lines even further between reality and gaming.

Intel could be found in two places at PAX Australia. An entire floor was decked out with screens and NUCs for live friendlies and matches. Closer to the main hall was the Intel dome where their were PC’s on show with some very out of this world cases.

The NUC arena also had a stats board which displayed the combined computing power of all NUCs that were on the floor… this resulted in Teraflops of computing prowess.

PAX Australia 2019 was massively huge. Cosplayers all round and the entire Convention Center filled with stages, gaming rooms, developer talks, diversity gaming and of course merch.

I was personally surprised that the merchandise areas (other than EB Games’s gigantic presence) was bigger. But it was varied enough, from pop culture goodness, through to comics, table top gaming items and more.

PAX AUS 2019 is Australia’s biggest video gaming event and clearly I can see why this statement is absolutely true.

The conclusion of the Expo on Monday the 14th of October 2019 left myself both happily exhausted and eagerly awaiting some private time with titles that were previewed, especially and overall Legends of Runeterra!

PAX Australia 2019 – truly epic.

The post PAX Australia 2019 appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Stern Pinball, Inc., a global lifestyle brand based on the iconic and outrageously fun modern American game of pinball, announced the Star Wars Pin, a new stylish, affordable and fun pinball machine designed and engineered for the home.

Stern’s new Star Wars Pin immerses players in the dynamic Star Wars galaxy. The Pin is packed with features that provide players with an irresistible game experience including select speech and footage from the original Star Wars trilogy, color-changing playfield inserts, a custom sculpted Death Star, and a custom sculpted and interactive TIE fighter.

The easy to setup Star Wars Pin is built to last and engineered with genuine Stern commercial-quality parts. The playfield is housed in a stylish cabinet with dynamic, high definition artwork. The all-LED playfield lighting provides optimal color and brilliant light shows.

“The Star Wars Pin is designed to provide quality family entertainment and bring pinball fun to homes everywhere,” said Gary Stern, Chairman and CEO of Stern Pinball, Inc. “We are pleased to bring these pinball machines celebrating the Star Wars galaxy and adventures to our fans.”

Complementing the immersive theme and exciting gameplay experience, Stern Pinball’s powerful SPIKE electronics hardware system enables high-definition graphics and innovative animations. SPIKE reduces system complexity and energy usage, resulting in enhanced reliability and simplified servicing.

One of these bad boys will set you back at around $4,499.00 USD.

Get yourself back to the Arcade, at home.

The post Stern Pinball Announces Star Wars Pin appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Previously announced in 2018, the pioneer of the Japanese video game industry, TAITO Corporation, is returning to the market for console games after around ten years with well-known and new TAITO IPs.

The first Western title from the game developer and publisher TAITO is a reboot of Ninja Warriors – a game which came onto the market for the Super Nintendo in 1994. 

The game will be released in North America and Europe by the German United Games GmbH, digitally and physically. The title will be marketed through Strictly Limited Games as limited editions and through the newly founded publishing label ININ as traditional retail and digital versions. 

TAITO Corporation was founded 65 years ago and shaped video game history at the time. In the 1980s and 90s, TAITO enthused millions of players with megahits such as PUZZLE BOBBLE, Rainbow Islands, ARKANOID and many other megasellers which enjoy cult status with gamers all over the world even today. In particular, SPACE INVADERS, the company’s best known title, brought global fame to the game pioneer TAITO and took the international game market by storm. The famous characters from SPACE INVADERS have since become the corporate characters of TAITO and represent a piece of pop culture which appears again and again, even outside of games.

No matter if in Hollywood movies, advertising, fashion or art – the ironically designed extraterrestrial invaders draw attention everywhere.

“We are proud to work together with TAITO Corporation, which has been a legend in the Japanese game industry for many years. We look forward to and are convinced that this cooperation will be a great success,” says Helmut Schmitz, CEO, United Games.

Details on Ninja Warriors will be announced later.

The post TAITO IS BACK! appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

AtGames Digital Media Inc. has announced the Legends Ultimate arcade machine.

Among the hundreds of games that will appear on this full-size arcade unit is a large selection of classic arcade and home video games from licensors like Atari, ColecoVision, Data East, The Tetris Company, and more. Top game properties include Asteroids, BurgerTime, Centipede, Fighter’s History, Pong, and Tetris, to name just a few. These favorites can be enjoyed from the authentic arcade-style control panel, which includes two joysticks, six action buttons per player, a high-performance trackball, and two spinners.

Among the Legends Ultimate arcade’s many exciting features are a modern user interface, intuitive and customizable menu themes, network play, Internet connectivity, leaderboards, and cloud gaming streaming. The included ArcadeNet connectivity features free DLC, remote play, tournaments, subscription game library, and BYOG functionality, where you can access PC game libraries. The Legends Ultimate arcade is also expandable, with Bluetooth accessories, cabinet art, light guns, and more, making it the ultimate entertainment platform.

The Legends Ultimate arcade will take limited pre-orders at your favorite retailers starting July 2019.

Additional product information will be announced during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2019 in June at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The post AtGames Announces the Legends Ultimate Arcade Machine! appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Go back to the early 90s with pixelated gameplay on ‘Throwback Arcade’ available on Krispy Kreme New Zealand’s Instagram page.

Yup, a huge and addictive revisit to the days where games were simpler – yet still tricky enough to cause a bit of sweat and alot of tears as you aimed to get through the ensuing Levels and aim for that all important high score.

There were no Save Points, no Checkpoints, just perseverance.

Krispy Kreme New Zealand has four retro-tastic short to mid play games on offer for mobile, accessed via their Insta.

Finger Bun Fighter hearkens back to the early days of Street Fighter, except you are a doughnut, of course. Perform crazy super moves, kick and punch you way to sugary glory in the best of two doughy fisticuff rounds.

Cookie Dough’s Krispy Kart sees you taking on the doughnut kart against opponents across varying tracks in old skool top down view as you race against your opponents, collecting boosts and power ups and all the while aiming to stay on the track. Harder than you think.

Fairy Bread Fantasy was my favourite. Evil Snacks have invaded and they have switched off your Hot Light. It is up to you in this coin collecting, enemy pouncing and sprinkle spraying 2D platformer to save your friends from the impending darkness… and presumably uncooked sweeties.

Finally we have Brownie Batter Bash and I’ve saved the most addictive to last.

Brownie Batter Bash is a take on the classic Pong. Your doughnut is the ball and there are many treats and bonuses to be collected at the top of the Arcade screen.

Bounce your doughnut from the board and reap the tasty delights, but of course timing and a lot of skill is necessary.

Having played alot through all four mini-games I thought it would be a breeze – but nope. Prepare to be severely tested with these pixelated bite sized addictions.

Krispy Kreme know that the 90’s gaming era was a memory that all of us who were around then and old enough to have birthday parties with school friends, go to the Arcades or play on our SEGA Master Systems or Super Nintendo’s is a memory that we have all held on to.

To coincide with their retro mobile game offerings Krispy Kreme New Zealand also has four doughnut flavours for their Throwback; Cookie Dough, Fairy Bread, Finger Bun and Brownie Batter.

Both the free to play games and the doughnut range are for a strictly limited time – so get in to these button mashers on Krispy Kreme New Zealand’s Official Instagram and play while you can and chomp on down to party favourites from yesteryear.

The post Krispy Kreme Retro Game Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.