You are not yet enlightened, Inky-san.

February 23, 2008 1:57 PM

Retro Sabotage is a collection of recreations of classic video games. Or is it?

Hint: It's not, but to explain them would be to spoil it. If a button needs to be pressed, it's the space bar unless it's explained otherwise. My advice is to try the Pac-Man and Space Invaders ones first, but Pong 2.0 is a highlight.

posted by JHarris (20 comments total)

You broke my videogames and I like it.
posted by not_on_display at 2:08 PM on February 23

this is funny
posted by pyramid termite at 2:09 PM on February 23

The Pacman ones are great - especially the 'escaped Pacman' one. I think this kind of trick suffers from the law of diminishing returns. The first time you play and something unexpected happens, it really grabs you. By the sixth or seventh time, not so much. But still a cool idea.
posted by RokkitNite at 2:20 PM on February 23

Some of them seem to have alternate possibilities. True Self has at least two possible quotes at the end.
posted by JHarris at 2:24 PM on February 23

I realy like the Tetris: Compromise game. Neat-o!
posted by MrMoonPie at 2:24 PM on February 23

MoonPie, yeah, that one's unique among all of them (except maybe the Vetrex Pong one, although it's pushing it) that it seems to be an actual game.
posted by JHarris at 2:27 PM on February 23

Compromise is interesting. I'm not in love with the quick-stick choice they made on falling blocks, but as a proof of concept it's neat. (See also simultaneous Megaman hijinx.)
posted by cortex at 2:31 PM on February 23

Screw two Megaman games at once, cortex, Megaman 3-6 at the same time is where it's at.
posted by Pope Guilty at 2:40 PM on February 23 [1 favorite]

Compromise is a neat proof of concept that I hope someone picks up and runs with. If you game it right you can get it so the pieces fall at a staggered rate, which takes away the challenge. This is a cool site.
posted by tepidmonkey at 2:44 PM on February 23

Holy butts, Pope Guilty.
posted by cortex at 2:47 PM on February 23

The Overpowered Pong is interesting. After you figure out the mechanics of the overpowered shot, you spend most of the round timing the space bar to capture and rebound the ball right back at your opponent with greater and greater force. Wham! Bam! Take that! Right in the face! And then finally -- SMASH! Bwahaha! Triumph! Victory! Yes! Alright. Great game. Let's do it again. Heh. Well. Okay... Is there... a new round? Hello? Um. Moving up and down here. Silence. The far court stays empty. Where did you go, little paddle? I'm... all alone. Please, somebody. Anybody. I didn't.... I didn't want it to be this way. Oh, God I'm so sorry, little paddle. Please come back. Come back. I didn't mean to hurt you. Oh, Jesus... the little green "1" isn't worth this crushing guilt and loneliness. Nothing is worth this pain.
posted by Rhaomi at 4:02 PM on February 23 [12 favorites]

This was so much cooler than it sounded.

Stupid '80s, I suck at your video games
posted by !Jim at 4:44 PM on February 23

the pacman ones were great, especially the morning after. the space invaders "invasion" was also really good. not many modern games can give you a feeling of utter hopelessness without feeling frustrated, was a cool little cinematic trip for a 2d game :)
posted by Dillonlikescookies at 6:22 PM on February 23

What's the twist with the "true self" Pacman? It played like normal for me and I gave up after completing the first level.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:18 PM on February 23

Eat the ghost, EndsOfInvention.
posted by Memo at 7:39 PM on February 23

There's actually two things in True Self. I've tried playing that one in order to purposely avoid triggering the things and haven't succeeded yet, although you may end up clearing the board once before the second one happens.
posted by JHarris at 8:01 PM on February 23

That Tetris revision is evil.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:34 AM on February 24

The twists were very clever (especially in What Next, Overpowered, and Happy New Year), but I think the "cinematics" in True Self and What Next were unnecessary.
posted by ErWenn at 9:06 AM on February 24

Reminiscent of Truth About Pong.
posted by skryche at 8:04 AM on February 25 [1 favorite]

Evil!
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:12 PM on February 27