Super Trux / SuperTrux - on the ZX Spectrum 48!!

What would Outrun feel like if instead you were in a big unattractive truck?

Well... it would probably feel a lot like this game really. SuperTrux or Super Trux or Elite Supertrux. Why was it known under slightly different names? I haven't a clue. It sometimes happened.

'Supertrux', we will call it, is an 8 bit game on the ZX Spectrum 48K published by Elite Systems in 1988. 

I reviewed this racer (if we can call it that) on the ZX Spectrum 48K. The system is attempting a lot here with the memory available and unfortunately sound had to be sacrificed. So what we have is a racing game with no sound. That's a huge problem. A quiet racing game? Admittedly the game was also released on the 128K spectrum and this probably did have it. I only owned a humble 48K machine however, so for nostalgia reasons, that's the system I generally review games on.

SuperTrux essentially attempts to offer the gameplay of Outrun, but with trucks. Against the clock you must race across Europe, go through checkpoints and get to the end of the game before the time runs out. Then the game starts over from the beginning again.

Quite frustrating to play this. The frame rate isn't brilliant, which I can forgive, but overtaking other vehicles is awkward. It seems you have to leave quite a big gap around them otherwise you're sent skidding and losing valuable time.

I gameplay reviewed this with a POKE on for infinite time to see if the game offered anything more later down the line. Unfortunately it didn't. A mix of race stages against other trucks on the road and obstacles stages involving roadworks and oils spills.

In conclusion, SuperTrux was interesting to look at for historic purposes, but is not one I'd hurry back to. Annoying gameplay and underwhelming. Below is my full review!!

Thank you for visiting the Channel's blog and watching the video!

If you would like to support the Channel, njenkin, please Subscribe on Youtube if you haven't already. It all helps to keep things going!

Many thanks,

Nick :o)

 

TOP 10 - Greatest COMMODORE AMIGA Cockpit View Racers of all TIme !!

I am the greatest !!!  Well, so Muhammad Ali proclaimed. Not sure he was talking about gaming though..

Always a bit of fun these videos on the channel and of course, very subjective. This is a Top 10 List of my favourite Cockpit view racers on the Commodore Amiga. When saying 'cockpit' view, meaning, your perspective is from behind the wheel or handlebars of the vehicle.

Other Top 10s already covered include, Chase View Racers, Vertical Scrolling Shooters and Horizontal Scrolling Shooters. Visit channel njenkin to check these out too!! 

It's pure nostalgia city. Agree with the lists? Disagree? Your more than welcome to put your thoughts in the comment section of this blog or more ideally, on the videos themselves. Retro gaming is always an experience best shared. :o)

If you haven't already, please show you support by subscribing to the channel njenkin !!! 

Many thanks!

Nick :o) 

The 2 Week Roundup - 8th September 2017 - Channel njenkin Retro Gaming

So.. what games have we been looking at on the Channel this time?

If you are are unaware of the gaming and retro gaming channel njenkin, you will also be unaware that once every two weeks, we do a two week round up of everything previously covered in that period. It's quite easy to miss stuff!

The channel currently covers games from systems the ZX Spectrum, Commodore Amiga, Game Boy Advance, Playstation 3 and Playstation 4. The odd vLog is thrown in too for good measure.

This time we looked at The Krypton Factor, Firefly, Fantasy World Dizzy, Magicland Dizzy, The Birds and the Bees, Bedlam, Return of the Jedi and Krakout II on the ZX Spectrum,  Wings of Death and Dan Dare III - The Escape on the Commodore Amiga,  Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance on the GBA, GTA V on the PS3 and Zen Pinball 2 - Ghost Rider and X-Men on the PS4.

We also covered Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle and Sonic The Hedgehog on the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection on the PS3, with additional vids of DriveClub on the PS4 and Speedball 2 Evolution on the PS3 !!!




It was another bumper packed 2 weeks and thank you for watching any of the videos. If you wish to show your support to the Channel and haven't already, then please subscribe. It all helps greatly!

Nick :o) 

Sonic the Hedgehog - Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection

Look Nick, you can't run a Retro Gaming channel without reviewing Sonic the Hedhehog at least once !!!

Well yes. Ok. I suppose that is true. Growing up, the main computers I owned were the ZX Spectrum and the Commodore Amiga. Unfortunately Sonic never featured on those. Apparently US Gold had the license, but the games never materialised. This is just as well really as some of US Gold's conversions were absolutely awful. Their Amiga conversion of Outrun was so bad, I think somebody should have been sent to prison for a very long time.

Sonic the Hedgehog then! I did eventually own this on the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection on the PS3 which we are gradually reviewing our way through. There are a lot of Sonic games on this collection, but it seems logical to start with the first one.

Originally released on the Sega Mega Drive in 1991, this PS3 collection came out in 2009. Playing like a complete newbie, I was immediately impressed. If you're unaware, Sonic is a platform game where you have to complete each stage as fast as you can and collect as many gold rings as possible along the way. You need some skills to get the best out of it, but the gameplay is very welcoming indeed. And the speed is amazing. Music is brilliant. I certainly missed out not owning this game back in the day and I look forward to reviewing all the sequels.

In terms of classic retro games, this one is huge! Below is my full gameplay review on njenkin with dubious commentary as per usual. Hooray!

 Thanks for visiting this blog or watching the video. If you'd like to support the growth of the channel, you can by subscribing to it on Youtube at njenkin. Every Sub helps!

Take good care of yourself, and til next time, a very fond, Goodbye !!!!

Nick :o)

The VIDME experiment. How is it going?

A week ago, I sang the praises of Video upload site, VIDME, as a possible alternative or addition to Youtube. So, how are things going?

Well, not good unfortunately. Which I am very disappointed about. It terms of reliability, the site still has some way to go.

In order to build a following with Viewers, it's important to be able to provide regular content. People need a solid reason to come back. Without that, a channel is pretty much doomed. New members to VIDME are restricted to a 3GB weekly upload limit until they reach 50 Followers. OK, a pain, but I can live with that. In theory, if you can keep a regular upload schedule with quality content, you'll naturally get that.

So a regular schedule is the key. People will learn when you Upload so know when to tune in.

Initially, I put up 3 videos which used all the weekly Bandwidth. Got a few views which I was quite happy with. From there I could then plan a strategy going forward. Or so I thought. It was from here I started having all the technical problems that made the whole thing really difficult.

Uploads would freeze during processing or stop uploading completely halfway through. This was costing me time. When you're running a Channel, time is extremely important. Run out of it and your ability to make new content is severely reduced. You need systems you can rely on. VIDME was becoming time consuming and I was getting nothing accomplished.

I emailed the Help team initially and the response was to Re-upload the file. I tried this a large number of times, but this always gave the same result.  This Video failed to upload. Tried a number of different files. The problem is that VIDME's uploader is not as advanced as the one on Youtube. During a 2 to 3 hour upload, the likelihood I will lose Internet connection for at least a few seconds somewhere is relatively high. Youtube's Uploader can cope with this. VIDME's seemingly cannot. I'm guessing this is the issue, but cannot be 100% certain.

Some people with stronger Internet may not experience these problems at all, but for myself, the whole system becomes unworkable with trying to run a Gaming channel and keeping up the level of content I want to work towards. 

Unfortunately, for the time being at least, the VIDME side of things will be discontinued. Will have a look at it again in a couple of months. A big shame as initially, it looked like a great opportunity.

Nick :o) 

GTA V - A couple of Days in Los Santos

Los Santos, a sprawling city where it's virtually impossible to go 5 minutes without committing a crime.

GTA V is a game created by Rockstar Games in 2013 and since this point, a lot of people have been up to no good. Myself included. I mean, you just can't help yourself. You try to do good, but before you know it, you're being chased by Police and driving for your life against oncoming traffic.

 I recently put up a gameplay review on njenkin of this amazing game. A couple of weeks previous, I did something similar with GTA IV, but this one takes the action to a whole new level. Improved graphics, improved sound, improved computer AI.

The map you explore is absolutely huge and unlike the previous game, it's totally unlocked straight away. You will not encounter any roadblocks on bridges here.

Spent a couple of days in Los Santos controlling Michael De Santa and although largely trying to keep out of trouble, we did experience a few trips to the hospital and police station. In terms of real life worlds, the mind boggles as to how Rockstar ever managed to get this done. It's a work of genius. Los Santos is a fully realised world which you can totally lose yourself in. 

 There are many missions you can take part in or if you'd prefer a more relaxed and open experience, there is free roam. Free roam was my option for the below video.

Time moves differently when playing these games and as per usual, the recording session lasted a lot longer than I'd originally intended. Just did a tiny number of things it's possible to do in the game, but hopefully you'll find it sufficiently entertaining. If you want to see more of these then let me know on the video or by giving it a Thumbs Up on Youtube! 

Many thanks and stay out of trouble... unless in Los Santos.

Nick :o) 

Dan Dare III - The Escape on the Commodore Amiga

Classic games converted from 8 to 16 Bit sometimes don't work very well

Dan Dare was always a bit of a hero of mine growing up. A character from Eagle comics, Dan was a sort of Flash Gordon, James Bond character in space. A sort of Buck Rogers hero maybe. Although futuristic, the style was that of British films from the fifties. His arch enemy was a green evil alien genius called The Mekon. He was always coming up with clever devilish plans to enslave the Earth and only Dare could possibly save us. I absolutely loved it.

 Around this time came a trilogy of  ZX Spectrum games, Dan Dare : Pilot of the Future, Dan Dare II : Mekon's Revenge and Dan Dare III : The Escape, released 1986, 1988 and 1990. All were published by Virgin games.

Although I wasn't a great fan of the second game in the trilogy, the games were great fun as you battled the Mekon and his evil Treen hordes. Their style was a mixture of Platform gaming and Shooting. Dan Dare III : The Escape was my favourite of the trilogy. Fun to play, colourful and a good ending to the series.

Then Virgin decided to release the third game on the Commodore Amiga... 8 bit to 16 bit. The Amiga was a much more powerful computer than the Spectrum so the game should have been awesome right? Well... below is my gameplay review. See what you think.

 I would definitely choose the Spectrum version first over the Amiga one. The Amiga version appeared to lose a lot of the fun. It works like that sometimes. A game on an earlier system just seems to play better.

If you have any thoughts about this game, feel free to comment below or on the Youtube video itself. If you're logged into that site, please consider subscribing to the Channel njenkin. Every little bit helps!

Have a great day folks!

Nick :o)


  

Bedlam on the ZX Spectrum 128k

In space, it's best to shoot everything you see!

That's very often a wise strategy. Well... in gaming terms anyway. I won't be held responsible if you do it in real life and are then impounded by some strange Federation of the day.

And so we come to Bedlam. A word that means a scene of uproar or confusion.

In this case, Bedlam is a vertical scrolling shoot 'em up on the ZX Spectrum. Published by Go! in 1988. Yes, so we're into classic 8 bit territory here and there is certainly an amount of uproar and confusion about the place.

Normally I would only gameplay review games from the 48K spectrum, but this particular one was only produced for the 128K. It works like that sometimes. What can we say about Bedlam then?

It's fast. It's slick. It's uncomplicated to get into. It's incredibly incredibly difficult. Ultra difficult. In order to get any length to the video, I eventually had to play it with a POKE for increased Lives. Without assistance, the review would have lasted less than about 3 minutes.

Graphically the game is brilliant for the era. Clever coding avoids colour bleed which often happened with many games around this time and before. Sounds are also fantastic. See the video below for my full gameplay review.

Thanks for watching! If you haven't already, please consider subscribing to my Youtube channel njenkin. All support greatly helps.  

Nick :o) 

Youtube 'Limited Ad' Madness

The Algorithm of Doom

This isn't all Youtube's fault. They had to do something. Looks like it was a bit rushed though and the end result is chaos, worry and uncertainty.

What am I talking about? 

Advertisers have been leaving the Youtube site as some have found their adverts appearing on Videos they do not want to be associated with. The content within that video they do not want linked to their products or appear to be endorsing in any way. These videos could contain terrorism, violence, crime, swearing or other unsavoury behaviour. 

Well, that's fair enough. Advertisers have to protect their brand. If you're the manufacturer of Happy Biscuits, you don't want your adverts appearing on a video of someone shouting racist hate speech or being cruel to puppies.

Youtube had to address this to stop the loss of important Ad revenue. Of course, they would not have the resources to check every video individually. That would take millions of operators working round the clock. So... they developed an Algorithm to check them all.

An Algorithm.

And that's where the huge problem starts for Youtube video creators who have their videos monetised. The Algorithm is far far from perfect. It's way too aggressive. Overnight genuine creators were getting large numbers of their videos wrongly deemed unsuitable for ad revenue with the status added, Limited or No Ads. 

You can appeal.... but only if your video has over 1000 views in the last 7 days. That's the knockout punch. Small and medium size creators will not have that so cannot appeal wrong decisions at all.

Admittedly this algorithm seems to have improved over the last couple of days, but it's a worrying position to be in if you're looking to grow your channel and can see obstacles being thrown in front of you blocking the path.

In terms of revenue to keep a growing Channel going on it's own, it's increasing becoming the reality that a creator cannot rely on Youtube Ad revenue alone.  Below are my recent thoughts.

 
Hopefully this Algorithm will continue to improve to benefit the Youtube commnunity. At the moment, it's particularly messy, random and unpredictable.

If you haven't already, please show your support by subscribing to my Youtube channel njenkin or following on VIDME.

Many thanks!

Nick :o)

Ghost Rider - Zen Pinball 2

Digital Pinball from Zen Studios - Vengeance and Virtue Pack

Ghost Rider! He's from Marvel comics and his head keeps catching fire. That seems like a valued skill to me and I can't understand why he hasn't been asked to join the Avengers. 

If you've been watching the channel, njenkin, you'll know by now I'm a big Pinball fan. Traditionally every Thursday a digital Pinball game has been uploaded. Most the time being either a table from The Pinball Arcade or Zen Pinball 2. It's not the most popular subject on the channel by some margin and we may take a break from tradition for a little bit. Over 100 tables are available to watch in the pinball playlist so there's quite a big back catalogue if you want a quick fix in the meantime.

The last few weeks, I've been gameplay reviewing the four tables from the Vengeance and Virtue pack from Zen studios which were released on the PS4 in 2014.

The tables offered in this Marvel pack are Moon Knight, Thor, X-men and of course, Ghost Rider.

The character Ghost Rider is an unusual hero who first appeared in marvel comics back in 1972. An interesting choice for a Pinball table, but it works well. All of Zen Studios tables are magnificent and this one is no different.

My full gameplay review of this table is below.

If you want to support the channel, please consider subscribing on Youtube if you haven't already. It's pretty tricky to grow on the platform if you're not already huge and every little bit helps!

Many thanks!

Nick :o)

VIDME - An alternative to Youtube?

Additional opportunities for smaller content creators?

Since the reboot of my gaming channel on Youtube called njenkin around 4 years ago, growth has been steady, but not spectacular. The reason being, I think, the colossal volume of videos being uploaded every second on the site across the globe makes it very difficult to be found. 

I only monetised the Channel after 3 and a half years as I wanted to be certain I had something of quality to offer the viewer and could do it consistently. This I feel I have done and can continue to do so. However, for any Youtube Channel to take that next epic leap forward to professionalism it has to be able to generate enough ad revenue to stand on its own two feet. Looking at the Stats, although gradually increasing, I can see it's going to be very difficult to survive from Youtube Ad revenue alone in the short term unless something incredible were to happen.  A lot of smaller and increasingly medium to large Youtube channels are also feeling the same way.

So what's the answer? Give up?

No!

It's important to make videos for fun if you're passionate about the subject matter. I recently stumbled across a new Video site called VIDME. Founded in 2014, it's much smaller than YouTube, but recently started to offer monetisation opportunities.

I've only put up one video on it so far to test the water. Still finding my feet with it, but the site reminds me a lot of how Youtube used to be before it were acquired by Google. Seems initially more friendly to the smaller creator with the potential for a lot of growth. Whether this will be the case, it's impossible to predict, but I thought it would be worth a test run to see what happens.

In order to monetise content, a member needs to have 50 Followers. At time of writing this blog, I have zero, but the first video was only put up today. Hopefully we'll get there soon so I can give this a proper trial.

At the end of the day, the site is free and smaller channels have got nothing to lose. Below is my first video on the site.

https://vid.me/CbDVc

 
If you get a chance, please take a look. If you sign up on VIDME, then be sure to give me a Follow. It all helps !!  This doesn't mean I'm suddenly leaving Youtube. Should be there for the foreseeable future.

Nick :o)

The Birds and the Bees - ZX Spectrum 48K

Ah the Nostalgia. Times were much simpler back then!

Retro Spectrum gaming from the early eighties. Got a good buzz off this one. Erm, yes.

You can't beat the oldies. It's easy for me to say this though as nostalgia is always a very strong force. You're always going to have stronger feelings for the sort of games you played growing up. Why? Because they're not just games. They're also memories. A warming link to the past. 

So what can we say about this 8 Bit game from 1983? Well, it's a game you certainly couldn't get away with releasing nowadays. But despite it's simplicity and minor flaws, I kind of like it. 

You control Boris the Bee from Birkenhead. It's your job to collect nectar from a row of delicious looking flowers then bring it back to the hive. At the end of the day, it's all about the honey. The more nectar Boris carries, the slower he flies making the task that bit trickier.

Of course, on route there are a number of nasties trying to stop good old Boris. Birds, insects, unfriendly caterpillars, they're all strongly against the process of honey manufacture it seems. Maybe a bug spray would have been good. The farmer of this place really hasn't thought this through. 

Bit of colour bleed in this game when Boris flies over other objects or a Bug Byte advertising plane flies across clouds or the sun. Overall though, a nice piece of gaming history.

Above is my full gameplay review type thing on njenkin. As usual, it's all about fun and sharing the memories. With retrogaming, I find it's always a greater experience once shared. If you have any thoughts or views about this game or similar then feel free to comment below or on the Youtube video if you have an account.

The Birds and the Bees published by Bug Byte in 1983.

Nick :o)
 

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle

SEGA Megadrive Ultimate Collection on the PS3

I never owned a Sega Mega Drive back in the day. I started in the eighties with a ZX Spectrum then later the Commodore Amiga in this era and the Sega Mega Drive sadly passed me by. Being a big fan of Retro Gaming I was later pleased to get hold of the Sega Megadrive Ultimate Collection on the Playstation 3 so I could try out all these great classic games I had missed.

 There are a number of absolute gems on this collection. I've already covered some on my Youtube Channel njenkin for you to take a look at. These include the amazing Golden Axe and Streets of Rage trilogies which are definitely worth a watch for nostalgia alone. This week I played and reviewed another classic, Alex Kid in the Enchanted Castle. A cute platformer released on the Mega Drive back in 1989.

Did you own it? Did you play it? Have any good memories? Let me know what you think.

Nick :o) 

Finish Him !!! Game Boy Advance Style

Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance

Enjoyed reviewing this one. Hasn't aged brilliantly when you look at the latest Mortal Kombat releases, but at the time in 2002, Deadly Alliance was a big leap forward over previous GBA titles in the series. 

 Published by Midway Games in 2002, the game offered a whole new fighting engine which worked really well. 12 playable characters, although some need to be unlocked. The game also offered Link cable support. Below is my gameplay review. Never full walkthroughs of course as you know. It's all about nostalgia and having a bit of fun.

  
Enjoy! Feel free to leave any comments below or on Youtube!

Nick :o) 

DriveClub - Italian Performance Cup

Darkness in Italy

If you've been watching the main channel njenkin, you will know by now we are slowly playing through the game DriveClub on the PS4. Published by Sony in 2014, the game is absolutely breathtaking. Graphics and sound are superb with so many different vehicles and challenges to unlock.

What stands DriveClub out from the crowd for me is how welcoming it is to the newcomer. Arcade in style, but with simulation style graphics. You won't be spending hours and hours setting up the car here or need a degree in car mechanics. It's instant play, instant action.

 This time I take on the Italian Performance Cup.

Thankfully you never have to pay for car repairs! If you can get hold of this game at a good price, I would definitely recommend a purchase.

Nick  :o)

 

A New Blog - First one on the Internet I'd Imagine

Hello there!

As the Blog description says, thank you for stopping by. My name is Nick and I run the Youtube gaming Channel njenkin which was rebooted around 3 and half years ago.

It's main aim was not to deliver detailed walkthroughs of old games, but instead to blunder my way through them, review them of sorts and to have fun with an audience who had similar interests. The Channel covers games from the ZX Spectrum, Commodore Amiga, Game Boy Advance and more modern PlayStation. It's good to get a comparison through the generations to see how games have evolved.

Over time the Channel has grown steadily and gained a knowledgeable and friendly audience of which I am most grateful for and I hope this will continue.

It was suggested I start a Blog to further promote the Channel so here it is!  Still doing a bit of tweaking with the design, but I'm sure I'll get it eventually. :P

I also a run a smaller channel called DataPurge which is updated less often and tends to focus on non-gaming issues and Top 10's. Links are on the top right (Well.. I hope so anyway), so if you're on YouTube and want to subscribe, that would be very helpful. Alternatively however, all new videos will be posted onto this Blog also as well as the new FaceBook page at Facebook.com/njenkin7.

Hurruh, well that's the first post done then. Why does Bloggers's spellcheck not recognise the word Blog? It's a mystery. Anyway... Have a great day!

Nick   :o)