This week’s TMA starts by proving the adage ‘famous last words’ by Tom declaring that he and Mat won’t talk about E3… Before the boys take 40 minutes to give their impressions on the Microsoft and Nintendo conference offerings. Besides that, Mat reminisces about Final Fantasy games and how owning a home makes him want to play Harvest Moon, while Tom’s been playing the PS2 hidden gem ‘Star Wars Racers Revenge’ and bemoans the death of custom game endings.
Listen here.
Just a few months after The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel was released on PS4, the sequel has now had the remastered PS4 treatment setting us up for the much-anticipated release of The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III this fall.
Trails of Cold Steel II is a great addition to the franchise which continues to build on the original, it continues straight after the events of the first game which makes playing it a necessity. The story begins with a mission to reunite all you beloved classmates. With such a huge mass of characters and even more being added it’s easy for cast members to fade into the background, however this game manages to not only keep all the characters involved in the story, but to continue to build their character arcs and bonds throughout the game whilst tying all the components of the story into a neat little bow by the end of the game.
The overall heart and soul of the Trials games remains true with cold steel II with some very welcome additions (except the snowboard minigame, I am terrible at that).
So what are these additions? The sequel offers much more freedom as you are no longer tied to the academy as your base of operations and you are not forced to have a set party for your assignments, instead allowing you to handpick your party before disembarking on story elements.
You begin the story at level 40 with all crafts being carried over from the first game, initially I thought this would be an issue as it wouldn’t allow for character growth, however I was pleasantly mistaken as each character learns new crafts as well as upgraded versions of previous crafts. With the level increase comes an increase in difficulty, making using tactics during battle all the more important.
The battle system still maintains the combat link system but this has been expanded with the ability to now overdrive with your link partner allowing you to take 3 turns there and then, this can completely change the tide of battle. This feature is only available once you have searched out and completed the trial chests for the relative characters which features defeating some difficult enemies.
The battles with Valimar are very much still rock,paper,scissors but a new element has been added with your party members linking up with the ashen knight to take part in the battle too.
There is a slight issue with the framerate at times when the battles get a little bit hectic, but overall The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II is a solid addition to the franchise and is Falcom continue to build on this for Cold Steel III, I for one will be pretty pumped for its release.
Find out more!
On a long overdue TMA, the boys talk about what they’ve been upto and about some video games! Mat Platinum’d Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight despite his lack of rhyme, beat DOA6‘s story and realised he doesn’t like Mortal Kombat. Tom on the other hand went back to beat DOA5′s story and played a hell of a lot of Team Sonic Racing. Beyond that, the boys get into some in-depth Death Stranding talk and Mat can’t wait for the Playdate!
Listen here.
On this episode of Tom's Gaming World, Tom introduces us to his Sega Mission Stick by demoing it with the Sega Arcade Classic's port of Space Harrier for the Sega Saturn as well as taking a more in-depth look at the recently released Guilty Gear 20th Anniversary Pack plus much more!
Back in the day comics would print a coupon which you could cut-out and present to your local newsagent to reserve the next issue (and the issues following on from that). Now fast forward to the present day and thanks to social media we were all prepared and notified to the renaming and recalibrated Lawgiver (the Judge Dredd convention) into Lawless (the convention of British comics). So, on the 18th of May Neil found himself in Bristol once again with Tom’s camera and this is the result!
For more on Lawless; https://www.facebook.com/groups/14170...
As a guide these approximate timings might be of use;
Lawless event guide 6sec, Steve McManus 15secs, ROK of the Reds fan and Judge Glass 20secs, https://www.rokofthereds.com/ Colin MacNeil 30secs, Marshal Metta Lawson and Johnny Alpha 47 secs, Glenn Fabry 51secs, Soviet bloc hypnosis leaflet 1:08secs, Ian Gibson 1:16secs, John Higgins 1:29secs, http://artofjohnhiggins.com/ Absolute Batman: The Killing Joke 1:34secs, --That matches the carpet!-- Tribute to Carlos Ezquerra 1:40secs, Carlos Art Droid 3:07secs, Welcome to Lawless from Lawless! 3:12secs, Panels! 3:16secs, Draw off! 3:23secs, Max Normal 3:31secs, --Buys a self-portrait!-- Dan Cornwell 3:40, https://dancornwell.wordpress.com/ Henry Flint 3:46, https://henryflint.wordpress.com/ Torquemada 4:01secs, Mike Collins 4:06secs, http://www.freakhousegraphics.com/ Abigail Bulmer 4:20secs, https://abigailartryder.wixsite.com/d... Steve Austin and Dylan Teague 4:41secs, http://www.stevenaustinart.com/ https://www.instagram.com/dylbot2099/ John Wagner [don’t blink!] 4:44secs, Original art for sale 4:49secs, Sector 13 fanzine 4:57secs, https://www.facebook.com/sector13thef... Battle Badger 5:01secs, https://www.facebook.com/beasthunting... art ninetwo studios 5:08secs, https://www.artninetwo.com/ Awesome Comics 5:24secs, David Lloyd and Patrick Goddard 5:32secs, http://www.lforlloyd.com/ https://twitter.com/PaddyGod1 Planet Replicas 5:45secs, https://www.planetreplicas.com/ Steve McManus closeout 5:51secs, Judge Death – THE SENTENCE IS DEATH 5:56secs
Join Tom as he tries out Last Day of June, a game he's been meaning to try for far too long and thankfully he's not disappointed with this enchanting story-driven puzzle game.
Join Tom as he unboxes Guilty Gear 20th Anniversary (complete with Art Book) for Nintendo Switch!
Guilty Gear 20th Anniversary includes the original Guilty Gear as well as the final version of the XX series, XX Accent Core Plus R, it's quite the package!
Tom's back with the latest update in his Gaming World! This time we finally get see the 32X in action and take another look at the Mega Retron HD clone Mega Drive/Genesis console from Hyperkin. There's also pickups galore!
Anyone curious about Hyperkin's Mega Retron HD console may want to check out this vid, join Tom as he unboxes and tries out the console for himself.
The Mega Retron HD is the latest in Hyperkin's range of HD 'Clone' systems that endeavour to produce the same gameplay experience as you remember from the original console through the use of original cartridges and clone hardware but out-putting to HD as well as composite.
Tom's bought his first Limited Run game!
Limited Run specialise in releasing physical versions of otherwise Digital-only games and occasionally they'll also release super special versions of these games, just like this one Tom has here!
Being a big King of Fighters fan, Tom decided to go all out and order a collector's version of King of Fighters 97: Global Match that comes housed inside a replica NEO GEO 'Shockbox', just like the original home cartridge version did back in in the day.
So sit back, relax and let's see what's inside shall we..? You can find more Limited Run releases at the website below:
Join Tom as he plays GoNNER, a beautiful roguelike video game developed by Art in Heart and published by Raw Fury.
Another year, another PLAY Expo! This year the event returned to Manchester at the new venue of Manchester Central and Mike, Neil and Tom were there to experience the show, for those not clued up on the event, here’s the blurb from their website:
‘The UK’s favourite arcade, indie and retro games show will return in 2019! Close to 1000 consoles, handhelds, computers, arcades, pinballs and PC's all running the very best in classic and modern video games and all free to play!
Organised by experienced video game events specialists Replay Events the show will be full with features, exhibitors and more gaming mayhem than Manchester has ever seen.
Jam packed with everything you love about gaming and popular culture, the show has something for everyone.
PLAY Expo Manchester - Modern Gaming, Indie, Retro, Arcade, Pinball, Minecraft, VR, LAN, Guests, Merchandise, Cosplay, Tournaments, Education, Communities, Tabletop Gaming, Photo Shoots and More!’
The event felt somewhat different from previous years, largely down to the location, Manchester Central has a very different feel from Manchester’s Event City where it’s been held previously. Our feelings were that things were perhaps spaced out a bit more to make up for a slightly smaller scale event, however saying that there was still plenty to enjoy. Especially if you want to actually play games at the event, there was a plethora of consoles to sample, even some older rarer examples as well as the modern consoles and the previous generation of systems.
Check out our event overview video to see exactly what was on offer:
We took to the Games Market on arrival, where plenty of vendors were in attendence selling their wares, check out the video below to see what Tom picked up at the event:
Of course it wouldn’t be a Blast Process outing without a visit to the Indie section where Neil got the chance to sit down and chat with a games developer who's been working in the industry for a fair few years now...Kev Brady.
Currently he's single-handedly converting the PC game Melkhior's Mansion, developed by Richard Jordan with graphics by Craig Stevenson and Music by Alberto Gonzalez to the ZX Spectrum Next, an exciting piece of kit in itself.
Kev gave us a great insight into his process in this interview and we'd like to thank him for taking the time to talk to us, I think you'll agree, a top bloke all round.
Check out our interview with Kev below:
If you're interested in reading Kev's development blog you can check it out at the link below:
https://specnext.dev/blog/author/kevb/
And with that, the team waved Manchester Central goodbye and headed back home. We had a great time and can certainly recommend PLAY Expo to anyone with an interest in gaming, especially those who enjoy the Retro side of things.
Thanks again to REPLAY Events for putting on another fantastic show and we’re already looking forward to the next time we get to experience another, wherever that may be!
You can read more about the Manchester event at the link below and keep your eyes peeled for more REPLAY Events coming to a location near you soon!
On this week’s TMA, Mat bemoans Sekiro’s difficulty, plays some Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight as well as buys some stuff in the PSN sale! Tom’s naturally been playing things too like Gundam Versus and GoNNER. Of course, we also touch on this year’s Howard the Duck trailer (Sonic) and cry over Tom’s childhood dreams turning to ash.
Listen here.
Table Top Racing: World Tour continues it's 'tour' with a brand new release on the Nintendo Switch. The game is already out on other platforms including; Xbox One, PS4, Steam and now it's available in a handheld variety!
Already own TTR: World Tour? This Nitro adds some brand new features to the game, along with all previous downloadable content and patches, it now boosts a split-screen online or offline mode, split-screen VS battle mode, and optional AI opponents in Online games. These new additions alone make the Switch version a standout piece in choosing what to play Table Top Racing: World Tour on.
You progress through the game unlocking new challenges and races along the way, efficiently it's like a skill tree and you can choose your path and order in which you complete the challenges or race in. While the races themselves do seem a little short sometimes TTR knows what it is and that's a pickup and play fun racing game with lots of items and unlocks to be had.
The TTR:World Tour series was first released in 2016 and has now landed on the Switch. Having had huge success on it’s other platforms, everything is brought over to the Switch version, along with a much need split-screen mode. While the game won’t rival the likes of Mario Kart, it does bring it’s own table top size fun and pickup and play ease with the Nintendo Switch release.
The new modes in the Switch version make it a solid choice for racing and pick up and play fans, looking for a new addition to there Nintendo Switch library.
Follow us on
On this week’s TMA, Tom recounts the tale of his 32X purchase, the beautiful mess that is The Crew 2 and a little bit of film talk. Mat meanwhile reminisces over Phantasy Star Online lobbies, talks about Devil May Cry 5, his new Mahjong obsession and a little bit of Sekiro!
Listen here.
Table Top Racing: World Tour Nitro Edition boosts onto the Nintendo Switch today. The game can be downloaded via the eShop store for £24.99.
We’ll be sharing our thoughts on the game so keep checking back!
Follow us on
On this episode of Tom Plays, Tom checks out a PS4 fighter that he's yet to get stuck into, BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle. Turns out it's pretty accessible and a lot of fun...if only he could find someone to play it with!
It's time for another Tom's Gaming World update! Tom is back once more to fill you in on his latest pickups and gaming related stories.
In this episode we hear why Gex Deep Pocket Gecko hasn't left Tom with a great first impression and if Hyperkin's Retron HD (NES Clone Console) is really worth your time.
There's also a bit about CD-i Light Gun games...if that's your thing ;)
Hello all! It's been a while but Tom's Gaming World is back! In this episode we talk a little about the SEGA 32X for Mega Drive and recent pick ups, as well as taking a look at a few Super Nintendo Fighting Game imports (the names of which I now know):
Games Played in this Episode (in order of appearance)
1.SUPER BIKKURIMAN
2.SUPER CHINESE FIGHTER
3.ROCK DENASHI BLUES
4.HANA NO KEIJI
Tom's living life in the fast lane in The Crew 2! Join Tom as he samples what this multi-vehicle racing game from Ubisoft has to offer!
