

This years’ Classic Gaming Expo and the 10th Anniversary of Digital Press happen to coincide. Obviously, DP wanted to do something special to mark the occasion. What better way than to release an original game for a classic system? Several game developers were contacted, but the job went to Daniel Bienvenu, who had written a few homebrews for ColecoVision (BUSTin Out, Dac-Man). Joe Santulli came up with the title and concept and provided support. A lot of people pitched in to help. Daniel brought in Sylvain (‘Sly DC’) De Chantal to design most of the levels and assist with the graphics. Marcel de Kogel wrote the emulator the game was compiled and tested on. As the project neared completion, Dave Giarrusso designed the artwork for the label and the instruction manual (as well as the full page advertisement shown in the last issue of DP as well as the CGE2K1 show program). Even veteran homebrew author John Dondzila lent his expertise on coding and debugging the program. Most of the communication and brainstorming was done via the Internet through email and instant messenger—something the designers of old didn’t have at their disposal. Finally, when the game was complete there were ten levels. After the game was downloaded to a ROM, it was discovered that it wouldn’t load an the actual console! After nearly giving coordinator Santulli a heart attack, John Dondzila was consulted and solved the problem. During his testing there were issues that had to be addressed such as heavy flickering and fatal errors. These were eventually worked out, and Santulli survived from near-coronary condition. Ironically when the bugs were fixed it freed up a lot of storage, so an additional ten levels were eventually added. There was not much time left but Santulli, with the aid of fellow CGE organizer and DP guy John Hardie managed to do the soldering and construction of 40 cartridges in time for a Classic Gaming Expo release. When the scheduled release time arrived at the show a long queue had formed. The games sold out within ten minutes. Even the promotional posters (with Dave G’s artwork) were taken. Most Expo-goers managed to at least play the demo that was set up. Their comments were consistently positive.

Shooter / Platform / Adventure / Action / Science fiction
In Mega Man ZX Advent, the main characters discover the power of the mysterious "Biometal model A," which on its own has several attacks, but also has a special Megamerge ability which allows the character to transform into one of eight "Pseudoroid" bosses that each have a unique set of abilities. Once a boss is defeated, players can emulate their powers to find hidden routes, discover rare items and aid their battles against more powerful enemies. The title takes full advantage of the Nintendo DS features to enhance the action-packed gameplay and story line of the popular series.

Shooter / Platform / Adventure / Action / Science fiction
This game contains elements from the Mega Man X series and the Mega Man Zero series. The game introduces a new open-ended gameplay environment and the ability to select the protagonist's gender, a first in the series. The player's character, Vent or Aile, is on a 2-dimensional overlay map with sprites where he or she engages enemies to finish the mission. When Vent and Aile receive a Biometal, they are able to change form, gaining various abilities, such as the charge moves, or charging their weapon with an element of that Biometal; for example, Biometal H will charge the weapon with electricity. While in a special form, using the form-specific abilities use up weapon energy. When Vent and Aile receive the other half of the Biometal, they are able to perform a different special ability.

Shooter / Platform / Adventure / Action / Science fiction
The Space Pirates, merciless agents of the evil Mother Brain, have stolen the last Metroid from a research station, and once again Mother Brain threatens the safety of the galaxy! Samus Aran must don her awesome array of high-tech weaponry to retrieve the deadly Metroid hidden deep within the cave-riddled planet Zebes. Super Metroid features excellent graphics, with a huge variety of enemies and worlds to explore. The side-view action will be familiar to many players, only now there are new weapons and items, including the Grappling Beam, which allows Samus to swing across large chasms, and the X-Ray Scope, which reveals secret passages.

Platform / Adventure / Action / Science fiction
Cosmic needs your help! He has no money, no car, and no respect from his fellow Cosmonaut's! The trouble is, no one believed his tale of discovering a far away planet called "Earth" so it's your job to help him get back there and take some handy snaps! Starting from his home town Old Lino Town, it's Cosmic gameplay all the way in a unique blend of adventure and arcade action plus a whole galaxy of surprises thrown in!

Platform / Adventure / Arcade / Action / Science fiction
This is a completely different game than its 16-bit counterpart on the Genesis/Mega Drive, and was originally released on the Sega Game Gear and Master System. The Sonic the Hedgehog 2 game marks the debut of Miles ‘Tails’ Prower, Sonic’s best pal, who is then seen recurring in the series. Assist Sonic to rescue Tails, who has been kidnapped by Dr. Robotnik in this platform video game. In exchange of Tails’ safety in this Sega Game Gear video game, the evil scientist asks that the six Chaos Emeralds be given away to six robots, so he can dominate the entire globe. With advanced ability of Sonic to smash through walls and grab back scattered rings hit by enemy, this platform video game is made even more exciting. Join the protagonist in the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 game as he rides a mine cart, a hang glider or skims through water surface in his rescue attempt. With seven zones and three acts each, this Sega Game Gear video game is a rollercoaster ride where you get rewarded at the end of each act.

Platform / Action / Science fiction
Strange signals are coming from the moon and Charlemagne Fotheringham-Grunes (or Charlie for short), member of the International Commission for Universal Problem Solving (I.C.U.P.S.) is sent to investigate. It turns out that the source of the signals is a strange monolith. The aim of the game is to destroy this monolith. Nodes of Yesod is an Arcade Adventure seen from a side-scrolling perspective. Charlie can jump and, after finding it first, use a device called mole. After pressing up on on the joystick, Charlie stands still and the player gains control over the mole that can be used to attack enemies. However, not all enemies can be harmed by the mole. Another useful device is the burrowing chum that can be used to dig through certain walls. Before Charlie can reach the monolith, he has to explore the many caverns of the moon and find eight keys or alchiems. Every now and then a red spaceman will show up, and touching him will cause Charlie to loose one of his keys.

Shooter / Platform / Action / Science fiction
Turrican II: The Final Fight is a platformer/shooter as typically seen on consoles, but designed for home computers from the ground up. Its plot is - naturally - very simple: an evil mega-robot called The Machine attacks the United Planets Ship Avalon 1, slaughtering all who resist. All - except Bren McGuire, who manages to escape and slips into the experimental Turrican bionic armor. As Turrican, he strives to show The Machine who's the boss. Unlike other games of its type, this game contains three levels of horizontal shooter action in the spirit of R-Type or the developers' own Katakis. Six large worlds are to be explored, where you are basically free to go everywhere you want, since there is no automatic scrolling and the levels are packed with hidden extra lives and weapons. All those levels are very different: the first one in the rock desert is pretty colorful with parallaxing rainbow background and happy music, while the following worlds get darker and darker.