Thundercross

Thundercross, one of the (illegitimate) sons of Gradius, is an horizzontal shoot'em-up by Konami released in 1988.

Will be it able to shine in the crowded jungle of the shoot'em-up?

X-Men

The X-Men is virtually one of the best team of characters for a beat'em-up, but did Konami seize the opportunity to create a memorable arcade?

Rainbow Islands

Bub and Bob strike again! Once upon a time they were cute bubbles-spitting dragons, but now they have the power of the rainbow on their side.

Mayflash F500 unboxing

Yesterday my Mayflash F500 Universal Arcade Fightstick arrived.

In the next following days I'm going to test it with a few games to understand if I did a good purchase or not, but in the meanwhile I made a few pictures during the unboxing.

Toki

Almost every single game room in the city I lived during my childhood had a Toki cabinet. It was not probably the game that captured everyone's attention at immediate sight, but after your first game, if you were a competitive spirit, the risk of becoming addicted was high.

P.O.W.

In the beginning there was Double Dragon and then, there were its sons: P.O.W., a beat’em up released by SNK, was one of the most successful during 1988.

Dangar UFO Robo

It is interesting how Dangar, an old style vertical scrolling shoot’em-up by Nichibutsu, is still to me a captivating game, especially if taking a look at the date of birth (1986).

Last Zzap! in Italy

Found last Zzap! today surfing the web… Guess, who’s the one at page 27 and page 29?

zzap_italia_-_85_-_maggio_2002

That 8-bits magic era was already ended 10 years before, but it has been anyhow nice being part of something special like Zzap! Thanks to Dizionario dei Videogiochi for bringing me back those memories.

Knuckle Joe

When reading Knuckle Joe,  did anyone say “Fist of the North Star”?

Yes, I heard it and you are probably right: the manga by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara was probably an insipiration for this beat’em up, ancestor of Double Dragon, Golden Axe, Final Fight…