brawler posts

Streets of Rage is one of those classic games that just about everyone with access to a Sega Genesis played at one point. The indie remake project, Streets of Rage Remake, has finally released the final version of their sprawling, PC-oriented remake of the classic franchise. Characters, stages, music, and objects from every game in the core series have been included and remastered, making this one of the most impressive remake projects we've ever seen. On top of that, it includes tons of goodies, such as editors and concept images.

[Via TIGsource]
[Image via Rock Paper Shotgun]

For many a kid growing up, the game Kung-Fu Master on the NES was one of the hardest games available. Controllers were broken in fury over the difficulty of this arcade classic. In tribute to this excellent (and supremely hard) retro classic, some enterprising developers have expanded on the concept for the 2008 Retro Remake competition at Retro Remakes. Sure, it's a year late, but who cares? It's a great look back at the halycon days. At least what we thought were the halycon days, anyway.

Kung-Fu 2 is a simple game to control. Arrow keys move, ctrl and space perform attacks. However, what is hard is the timing. Much like the original, you must have perfect timing to eliminate enemies, or you will take significant damage. It's an exercise in frustration for those unfamiliar with the game, but it adds a level of old-school challenge not seen in many games nowadays. You can download the game from the developers website.

[Via IndieGames]

I'm surrounded. A crazy dancing one-man band has driven the local folk into a frenzy, and they are violently swarming me, a mass of limbs flailing in desperation. First I dispatch the bizarre musician with some well-placed shots from my twin pistols, and then I crack my knuckles in anticipation. Foot meets kidney, knee meets face, uppercut meets jaw, and by the time I'm through, there is not a single conscious living thing near where I am standing. Suddenly, a massive creature bursts in and charges at me. I sprint towards the nearest blunt object in desperation, as it is the only thing that can harm this behemoth.

Zeno Clash is full of moments like this. Moments that surprise you and make you tell your friends what just happened. While it's a game that has a fair number of flaws, the positive aspects far outweigh the negative ones, leading to one of the best indie games in recent memory. The Chilean-based Ace Team has put out an incredible game that any serious gamer, FPS or otherwise, should play.

There's nothing like some good ol' zombie slaughter to take your mind off the daily drudgery of life. For those in the scary mood, Left 4 Dead is coming out soon and we love the demo. For those in the campy mood, though, there's not much out there to satisfy the sort of action craving one gets by watching Evil Dead or Shaun of the Dead. Zompocalypse is a new indie game that aims to capture this campy, humorous atmosphere while still providing plenty of fun gameplay. We wrote about it on Halloween, but there's some stuff you may have missed.

Taking place during a zombie apocalypse (hence the name), Zompocalypse follows two characters as they fight through hordes of flesh-eating zombies. The character designs are toony and ridiculous, there are bizarre bosses such as the Zombie Pope of Harlem, and the gameplay is a reminder of games long gone. Specifically, it plays like a mixture of Streets of Rage and Metal Slug, mixing pseudo-3D brawling elements with shooting aspects. The game is half-price at the moment as it is still unfinished, and buying it entitles you to the full game once it releases. There is also a flash demo to try out the game as well as an executable demo that can be found right here on Big Download.

There's an of internet phenomenon called the OS-tan. It's a sort of anthropomorphic personification (hello Terry Pratchett!) of operating systems as people. Bootfighter Windom XP SP-2 is a sort of off-shoot of this movement. Only instead of cute girls, the operating systems are deadly mechs. Bootfighter is a fairly easy to grasp mecha brawler, especially if you play a lot of PC games. The controls are effective, the graphics crisp, and the sound clean. The game itself is loads of fun, bringing to mind memories of Zone of the Enders and the battles therein. As it's freeware, it never hurts to try it out if you are curious.

[Via LithiumLeaf]