Posts tagged classic
Atom Arcade: Lemonade Stand is a faithful port of the Apple classic
Dec 28th
Way, WAY back when I was first being introduced to personal computers, I was “fortunate” enough to attend a school with a lab full of Apple IIe systems. My two favorite gaming addictions? Car builder and Lemonade Stand.
Like so many computer classics, Lemonade stand has been ported dozens of times and “improved” in all sorts of ways. Better graphics. High-quality MP3 sounds. Bah!
Codenautics, on the other hand, decided to leave things pretty much the same. Their port is about as minimal as I’ve seen, with low-color graphics tucked into the corner of a window which features standard Windows UI elements. Here’s how the game works according to a popular meme:
1. Check weather report
2. Make lemonade
3. ???
4. Profit!
And that’s about all there is to it. I’m not doing so hot this go-round, only having earned about $13 after a fortnight. I’ve got to come up with some better marketing campaigns…
Atom Arcade: Titanion is a stylish, old-school shoot’em up
Dec 27th
My parents didn’t dig the idea of having an actual gaming console in my house when I was a little shaver. We did, however, have a Commodore 64 – and I used to love playing ports of old-timey arcade games.
Two of my favorites were Gyruss and Galaga. Want a nice shooter for your netbook? Check out Titanion.
The graphics are stylish, simple, and awesome. 3D cubes and pyramids dance around in a frenzied fire-fight as you dodge and blast your way through each level. Different play modes offer you your choice of straight-up old school action or more “modern” battle action. As far as I could tell, the difference is the number of cannons your ship sports and the direction they fire (modern adds two 45 degree guns).
As my five-year-old son figured out, holding down the z (fire) key unleashes a death blossom-esque stream of hellfire upon your attackers. It feels very Last Starfighter.
Titanion is a ton of fun, and it’s silky-smooth even on older Atom netbooks.