Mighty Battle Skin Panic (And Other 8-Bit Fantasies)

Figments from an era when videogames were nothing more than a mildly retarded upstart to that oh-so-established genre of entertainment known as "anime".... All from a long-dead gaming platform called the MSX.

Some company called "Gainax" made this super-realistic high school simulation that incorporates both submarine warfare and a case of the old "battle skin panic." Wonder what they're up to now. The bikini-clad schoolteachers, I mean.

"Starship Rendezvous" defies easy explanation -- Oh, who am I kidding. It's a proto-porno game featuring a weirdly vibrating digitized photo of a female. HOT!!! (...If throbbing pixels are your "thing.")

Most realistic Gundam simulator EVER. Remember that scene where Amuro had to dodge falling pot-roasts in the anime?

He's a bat, man! This super-deformed, explosion-prone portrayal of the caped crusader is the best thing since Christian Bale, or Adam West.

Forget the penchant for wine, women, and breaking and entering. What REALLY gets Lupin III going is bubblegum.

Comments

[Sgt. Phantom]

The Batman game clearly lays the groundwork for Arkham Asylum and makes Batman be stripped to his essence with no gadgets and one hit kills.
And to Lupin's credit, bubblegum is the deadliest weapon.

[Matthew Fitsko]

I think you're being a little unfair to Batman. That is the MSX port of a game created by developers in the UK and originally released on the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. In addition to the great puzzle design, Batman was one of the first games to use isometric perspective to great effect. It is also the immediate precursor to Head Over Heels, one of the best action-puzzle games of all time.

Say what you like about the feeble use of the Batman source material, but the gameplay itself is superb.

[MattAlt]

"I think you're being a little unfair to Batman."

You'd be surprised how often I've had that said to me, usually by a date just before they slammed the door in my face.

I'm just funnin' around -- the game actually looks worth a spin! I could take or leave Throbbing Starship Rendezvous, though.

[wah]

Mighty Battle Skin Panic is so fucking moe I don't know what to do.

I also don't remember the part in Gundam where the Gundam stayed in once place, spun around and shot every pink Zaku that came its way. I also don't remember the gauge in the cockpit that kept score.

I DO remember Gold of Babylon being a pretty weird and bad Lupin movie, but I don't remember (what looks like) jelly fish falling from the skies and spinning tops attacking Lupin.