Do you remember when Ziggurat announced a remaster of Rendering Ranger: R²? I had forgotten about it (thanks for the reminder, Gematsu). However, it has resurfaced as Rendering Ranger: R² [Rewind]. It’s coming to PC, Switch, PS4, and PS5 lat?er this year.

Ziggurat’s press release states Rendering Ranger: R² is the most expensive SNES game in the collector’s market, which isn’t true according to PriceCharting.com. It is, however, the most expensive Super Famicom game.

It also describes it as a side-scrolling action game, which might seem rather vague, but that’s because it alternates between horizontal shoot-’em-up and terrestrial run-and-gun. It was created by some of the people behind Turrican and Giana Sisters. Weir?dly, it only came out in Japan, despite Rainbow? Arts Software being a German company. According to Ziggurat, it only sold about 10,000 copies.

As a note, it did get an SNES release by Limited Run Games in 2022/23. They are also listed as developing the re-release, which means it will be powered by their Carbon Engine. That means it will have rewind, save states, and CRT filters. It will include Rendering Ranger: R² as well as Targa, the unreleased Western version.

Rendering Ranger: R²’s big claim to fame (aside from its price tag) is its technical showcase. It makes great use of the console’s scaling and rotating abilities, and ties in some 3D-to-2D objects, not unlike Donkey Kong Country.

It’s always nice to see an obscure old game get another chance ?at finding an audience.

Rendering Ranger: R² [Rewind] is coming to PC,? Switch, PS4??, and PS5 later this year.

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Nightdive Studios announced their next remastering project at the Guerilla Collective today. This time, they’re teaming with their fellow retro enthusiasts at Ziggurat to put the polisher on 3DO’s 1995 cult-classic FPS, Killing Time. Killing Time: Resurrected will be released later this year.

Killing Time is one of the few games I own for my 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, one of the doomed consoles of the �0s. While playing through the first area of the game, I stopped myself because, while the game is fine, it was obviously ??not the ideal way to play it. The 3DO version is rather choppy, and the controller affords little comfort. There was a PC port, and I already owned it on GOG, so I figured I might as well just play that version.

But I never did.

Now, I definitely will. Nightdive is bringing us what will most likely be the definitive way of playing Killing Time. Beyond simply being ported to ??a modern engine, the trailer shows off completely updated sprites and ??textures, mouselook, and smoother movement.

I spoke to Nightdive about the new sprites and textures. Some of the updates are drawn from original source photographs and models whereever they were able to find backups o??f them. Some, however, were exclusive to the PC version, and Nightdive artist Albert Marin Garau says that to remake them he "modeled, rigged, skinned and animated those exclusive PC enemies and render hi-res sprites that match the quality of the other hi-res assets."

I'll write about it in more detail soon.

Killing Time is a rather obscure FPS, but don’t get it twisted with PO’ed. While both games were initially released on the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer and both games were ambitious for their time, Killing Time ju??st stuck the landing better. Rather than a series ??of levels, the world was more open-ish. It told a story using digitized actors and was fully voiced.

The story involves an island where an ancient Egyptian curse causes a number of high-society people to vanish. Your task is to undo that curse, but standing in your way is a number of sometimes bizarre enemies. One of the first types that you fight is ?ducks, which is sad. The only thing you should be firing at ducks is bread.

Killing Time: Resurrected is coming ?to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, a?nd PC sometime later this year.

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Slave Zero X previously planned its Strider 2-style hack-and-slash action for Switch this spring, and now there's a firm date in place. Following ??earlier console and PC releases, developer Poppy Works' side-scroller hits Nintendo's console on April 11, 2024. 

When Slave Zero X lands on Switch, it'll be available in standard and deluxe editions, with the latter packing a custom Switch skin, soundtracks, and a trio of comic books from Ant Williams and Andy Lanning for those who want more of that sweet Slave Zero lore. There are also physical versions on the way for Asia and Japan on April 11, followed by the United States and Europe on May 17. 

There's a new age-gated sizzle reel for Switch right here.

Slash Dance

Beyond the Switch release, there's one last challenge for players on all platforms. The devs are tossing in SovKhan 300, who will be available to face off against as post-game content for those who have bested the Crimson Citadel mode. Representing SovKhan in his "true ultimate form," the addition will go liv??e as a free update on consoles and PC alongside the Switch version.

Expanded language support is also on the way, timed nicely with the multi-platf?orm launch in Asia and Japan. Starting on April 11, a patch will be deployed to add in support for Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, and Thai language options across all platforms.&n?bsp;

If you don't feel like waiting until the Switch drop, Slave Zero X is currently available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and GOG. It's quite good. 

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This is certainly a unique way to revive an old license. Slave Zero was a 1999 Infogrames title for Dreamcast and PC. Infogrames became? Atari, which has links to Ziggurat Games, which works with publisher Tommo. So, the rights have been swirling around this big bucket.

That’s maybe not important.? What is important is that someone at Ziggurat or Poppy Works identified it as fertile ground for a revival, even though the original wasn’t entirely acclaimed. Then, Poppy Works discar??ded basically everything about Slave Zero and somehow created something that pays respect to the original but is a completely original concept.

The result is fascinating. At a glance, you wouldn’t link Slave Zero X with its supposed progenitor. It’s an entirely new thing. And yet, somehow, it still adds value to the original like a good prequel should.

Slave Zero X (PC [reviewed], PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox SeriesX|S, Switch)
Developer: Poppy Works
Publisher: Ziggurat
Released: February 21, 2024, Spring 2024 (Switch)
MSRP: $24.99

Slave Zero was a game about a big stompy robot that trudged around a megacity, blowing up other giants and disinterested motorists. Slave Zero X is entirely not about that. It takes place ?four years before the Dreamcast title and involves Shou, a member of a resistance faction called The Guardians. They stand in opposition to the SovKahn,?? a relentless tyrant whose name sounds to me like a lactose-free coffee-based beverage.

Shou takes command of a biomecha, which is essentially a sentient suit of armor. With it, heâ€??™s gone rogue from his organization to wage a one-man-one-armor war against the SoyKoff. This means that he’s going to cut through the worthless armored goons in his way, slice up the Four Calamities who protect the tyrant, and then kill the man himself. It’s a tall order, but he might just be crazy enough to do it.

The game consists of a large assortment of levels flanked by dialogue and flashback cutscenes with incredible gay sexual tension. Being entirely motivated by revenge, it’s not the most unique plot, aside from the art, ?the characters, and the gay sexual tension.

I think it’s pretty genius to create a prequel to a Dreamcast game by creating what looks like a lost Sega Saturn title. Specifically, it resembles a biopunk Strider 2 with pixelated 2D sprites over lo-fi backdrops. On top of that is a terrific art style and an aesthetic that seems like something Suda51 would put together. If nothing else, Slave Zero X is candy to the eyes.

It’s stage dressing for a brutal mix of hack-and-slash and fighting games. Shou has a wide arsenal of moves, enemies are surprisingly robust, and they like to bring a lot of friends to the party. It’s a remarkably difficult game to come to grips with, ??and the skill ceiling is deceptively high. Even during the final battles ?of the game, I needed to learn more strategies to counter the more complicated bosses. I never stopped learning new things.

Part of this is because it’s terrible at explaining things. There’s a tutorial at the very beginning that consists of a few slides telling you everything. However, without the context of a few battles under your belt, the more advanced stuff doesn’t ?have much hope of sticking. Unless you’re a better ?student than me, I guess.

There’s a training mode, but it doesn’t provide you with different moves and combos to try out. You just smack away at a dummy and wiggle the directional buttons hoping that something new happens. This is quality-of-life stuff, but it feels like it would help immensel??y.

On the other hand, i??t did feel great to learn new things organically, but this may come at the end of a long string of humiliating defeats.

Much of the strategy here comes down to crowd control and air juggling. Those skills will get you furthest, with dodging, clashing, and parrying all secondary. Enemies arrive in ma??sses, and you don’t want to get stuck between groups. If you leave an enemy behind you, theyâ€?™ll just smack you, end your combo, and set off a chain of stun locking.

Instead, you need to corral everyone to one side, then pop them in the air and keep them elevated. This means learning the moves that will push you ahead and the timing to keep the enemies in t??he air.

This goes with bosses, as well, w??hich are a bit different. The heaviest enemies and the lightest bosses require you to “break their focus�before they’ll start getting?? stunned by your hits. It’s actually kind of lame that they just no-sell your sword slice until they’ve taken enough damage, but I’ll admit that it keeps you strategizing. Once you break their focus, you then have a window of time to do as much damage as possible. Best way to do this? Get them in the air and start juggling.

At times, this led me to lean hard on holding forward and hitting the heavy attack. That only got me so far. Enemies will inevitably get you in a combo, and when that happens, you ma??y find an entire group beating you down while you’re stuck hopelessly stunlocked. You can then use a pulse to push them back, allowing you to get to a better position and turn the tables. Likewise, there’s Fatal Sync which allows you to pull off heavier attacks at greater speed while slowly refilling your health gauge.

If I’m illustrating anything here, I hope it’s that there’s a lot going on in Slave Zero X.

Anyone who simply bounces off Slave Zero X’s unfriendly exterior is right in doing so. It is one steep learning c??urve for an otherwise short game. I can’t even claim that the narrative makes it worth it.

Where it does feel worth it is when things finally click into place. The penultimate boss battle really tested the lifespan of my controller. The numerous attempts it took me to finally take them down caused my thumbs to ache as I parried, made careful use of my Fatal Sync, and carefully learned to read their movements. It’s a very brutal finale, but I got into a flow that I feel I most recently felt with Doom Eternal.

A challenge tower unlocks after beating the last?? boss, but I haven’t attempted it yet. I need to give my thumbs some rest.

I don’t think Slave Zero X will click with everything, but for the most part, I think it’s exactly what it wants to be. I think some quality-of-life improvements would make it easier to get into, but other small tweaks would be appreciated as well. In particular, there were a few areas where foreground objects would completely block my view of battle. Beyond that, I ran into technical issues, like the graphic?s blurring in ??one particular spot and a few crashes.

But even if those issues were addressed, the demands it makes from the player in regards to learning its systems will be too much for some. It does, however, feel like a welcome reprieve from a lot of modern games that s??ignpost everything an?d ensure that nothing can possibly be missed.

Despite the pixelated exterior of Slave Zero X and its unforgiving temperament, it doesn’t?? necessarily feel like an old game from a bygone generation. Rather, it feels like the work of a pass??ionate team that knew what they wanted and unapologetically went for it. It took an obscure license and ignited a new spark in it without compromising its own vision. It’s a rare thing, and I truly hope it finds its audience.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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Zigurrat and Poppy Works have released a free add-on for Quake based on the upcoming game Slave Zero X. More than just a beefy slice of marketing, Slave Zero X Episode Enyo is a mod th?at serves as a prequel to ?the main game’s narrative.

The mod boasts six levels, eight weapons, and an original soundtrack. You play as one of the main antagonists from Slave Zero X, the eponymous Enyo. She’s out ??to assassinate So?vereign Khan, or “SovKhan,�as his friends call him.

The press release pushes the fact that the add-on can run on Nightdive’s remastered version of Quake. It’s available directly through the add-ons menu, so you can download and play it on consoles as well as PC. However, they’ve also released it standalone to be run on the various Quake source ports.

I have to say, it’s a pretty big flex to promote your game with a Quake mod. I’ve played a bit of it myself, and it’s not a quick hack job. Its levels are pretty elaborate, and while you can recognize some assets from the base game, it’s mostly all new. More importantly, however, it shows an understanding of Slave Zero X’s audience. I was initially keeping the game in my peripherals, not really paying it much mind, but now it’s firmly in my sights. I’m curious how it will tie into this Quake mod.

The title itself is a prequel to 1999’s Slave Zero for Dreamcast and PC, and while I don’t think you need any familiarity to get into Po??ppy Works�new title, an affection for it certainly helps.

Slave Zero X releases on February 21, 2024 for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, and Switch. Episode Enyo is available now for Quake.

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Remember Ballance? I entirely don’t. But Ziggurat is pulling it out of obscurity (maybe) and onto Steam and GOG on January 5.

Ziggurat recently reproduced another game, Boiling Point, just this past November. But while I had a lot of things to say about my experiences with that game, Ballance is completely new to me. It was released in 2004 by Cyparade and Atari to decent reviews. It apparently wasn’t completely forgotten since it got a sequel in 2019 (involving none of th??e original staff), and even has a Wikipedia page.? 

Speaking of its Wikipedia page, it says, “The game is now considered abandonware, and neither the developers nor publishers are actively tracking its copyrights.�Not ?anymore! Purge your hard drives. It lives again!

Anyways, Ballance is similar to the 1984 arcade classic, Marble Madness. It’s something of a puzzle platform where you navigate a ball through hazardous mazes. I guess, to use a more recent example, it’s a lot like Super Monkey Ball. It looks pretty fun, to be honest. Nothing in the press materials sa??ys whether anything has been ??fixed or updated in the new release. All the footage and screenshots of it show a 4:3 resolution.

??By my standards, as long as it looks fine and runs fine, it’s good enough?? for a re-release. However, I am unable to confirm that it looks fine and runs fine.

You can find out for yourself when Ballance gets re-release on PC via GOG and Steam on ?January 5, 2024.

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Handheld hug button

A reimagining of an NES classic is getting another port, this time carrying it forward to another Nintendo console. A Boy and His Blob is getting ported to Nintendo Switch, courtesy of a partnership between WayForward and Ziggurat Interactive.

The WayForward platformer debuted back in 2009 for the Nintendo Wii. It was, itself, a reimagining of the 1989 A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia, an NES game. And now the blobby legacy of A Boy and His Blob is stretching out fro??m 1989 to 2021, as Ziggurat is targeting a fall 2021 launch for its Switch port.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy_uM1hxO7Y

A Boy and His Blob has been brought forward from the Nintendo Wii to many, many consoles. This includes ports for the PS3, PS4, PlayStation Vita, PC, ?Xbox, Andro??id, and iOS. But really, bringing it to a new Nintendo console just seems right, you know?

"We are delighted to announce this new Switch version of the game, which is just the start of our long-term commitment to the A Boy and His Blob universe," said Michael Devine, SVP ??of Business Development at Ziggurat Interactive, in a ??press release.

While it's been a long journey to get there, it's cool to see this game still resonates through the years with so many folks. I've never dug into it myself, but apparently it has a dedicated "hug" button. I've already loved one game with the same mechanic, so who knows? Maybe this could do the same.

A Boy and His Blob arrives on Nintendo Switch this fall.

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