International Karate

Yo!

In the 80s and 90s everyone wanted to learn karate. A friend of mine in the neighborhood had a bigger brother who was really good. He was the coolest kid in the block. He had a motorbike and he and his friends trained karate in the backyard. I was always amazed when they did flykicks on a big sack which one of them was holding up.


Anyways, back to the game. International Karate was so cool, because the movements of the players was so real. This was played on a commodore 64 so it was not usual to have a smooth flow that was similiar to reality. You could punch a guy in the belly and he dropped to the ground as if he lost the air out of his lungs. Trip the guy with low kick and knock your enemies with headbutts. The hardest move on Int karate 3 was the double kick. You could play against a friend and computer at the same time, so if you managed to coordinate your enemies it was possible to jump up in the air and splitkick both players in the head. Just like Jean Claude van Damme, but in the air!!

And as usual in the karate world, you have to break brick stones with your head.. which gained bonus points. Now to what I never understood until xbox brought this on.. why would you play for points when the only thing was to reach a highscore to show off for your friends? Today gaming has actually improved by giving rewards for points. Gears of war 2 and Rainbow six vegas shows this excellently by unlocking cool gadgets and videos/posters for finding secret items or killing enemies in special ways. That was totally unretro of me to say gaming has improved :P

Also, if you were spectating an int karate game you could search the horizon for a flying bird or watching a small spider climb down a tree. Nothing that adds to gaming experience, but totally cool!!

International Karate c64
International Karate+ c64
(There are so much more cool vids with music etc so just keep clicking on youtube)

Music 4/5
Gaming 5/5

The Fetro Retro Heroes! ;D

Rad

Just the expression is retro by itself. Radical - Rad! Something you dont hear that often nowadays. Its part of giving a high five and loving life in the moment. When you just finished your race at the Helltrack.. without crashing your awesome bmx bike.
This movie, Rad, takes place in awesome 80s america when bad and good was easy to differ. Cru Jones works as a paperboy and the paperboy scene itself is awesome. A bunch of cool kids race through morning surburbia and along with cool bmx stunts they deliver the newspaper with a smile! I wont tell you much more of the movie except its all about true love for a woman and bmx all at once. Keep practicing and you will achieve your goals!
There is awesome music and bmx stunts in this movie. Also a discoscene with bikes "dancing". I watched the intro/outro scenes over and over again cause its so RAD!

John Farnham - Break the ice
John Farnham - Thunder in your heart
Watch the intro of Rad and listen to both songs here

Real life - Send me an angel
Watch the disco scene and listen to the song here

This is one of the best 80s movies Ive seen so 5/5 all categories.

X-Com: Enemy Unknown

X-Com: Enemy Unknown for the Sony Playstation is in my opinion the ultimate tactical and strategical turn based squad-based video game ever! You take command of earth's anti alien terror forces against invading aliens who tries to infiltrate and eliminate the human race. The mood of the game is the best part along with the excellent strategy and tactical part where you try to out think and out gun your enemy. You are bound to lose over half of your squad on some missions and that really puts fear in you and your squad since some of soldiers might panic or even lose their minds out on the battlefield... You'll also have to research new equipment and weapons based on alien technology in order to meet up with the aliens technological superiority. This game was (and still is) one of the best games that I have ever played!

:)

A small note...

The Playstation version contains better sound quality and smoother graphics than the pc version.

:)

Fun: 5/5

Gameplay: 5/5

Replay value: 4/5

Cover art: 5/5

The way of mixing and merging the background with the foreground through the protruding alien and the two space ships gives both life and deepness in the picture while at the same time with its lilac brown/orange'ish colors tries to present something alien and not just through the image of the alien itself. Also, the way in which the soldiers in the background and how everything human (buildings, people, technology, soldiers) surronds the alien in the center is very cool because the threat has suddenly shown up in the middle of everything catching the humans off guard since you actually can see all the humans fleeing in fear and desperation. This cover art is so awesome that it would be cool to have it as a big poster on the wall... Something else that also would be very cool to have is a poster that is a collage of a couple of old Playstation titles, maybe only just 5-6 titles lined up on a horizontal poster with or without a frame.

90's phone

A cool usb-phone that can be used with Skype and also reminds of a 90's phone. I want it!

Ridge Racer

Ridge Racer - An old Playstation game that contained cars which had excellent handling. Although, the handling was highly unrealistic, but very fun since you could brake really cool through the curves. It was a bit tricky to get the cool brake turns, but when you finally got it you were filled with a great sensation of accomplishment. Me and my brother used to play this game a lot so I'd say that it qualifies as a qualitative retro game.

Fun: 4/5

Car handling: 4/5

New Logo

I've made yet another logo! :D I think this one is better than the last one, but what does the Skipzor think?

Sandra - Innocent Love

Check this out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKrckJ4Idxs
It's the music video for Sandra's Innocent Love.
Skipzor's tip about Sandra got me looking for more of her music and what can I say; I felt for her music right away! Respect to Skipzor and his knowledge in sweet 80's music that makes life worth living! ;D

Fetro Retro Logos

I've made a cool logo prototype for the Fetro Retro blog/webzine. Will this be to Skipzor's liking or should I rework the current concept into another style?

The Power Glove

The Power Glove - a sophisticated instrument for immersing yourself into virtual and interactive worlds during the 1980's. The Power Glove could also be used for dominating your opponents since it gave the user a boost of confidence and coolness with its futuristic design and technology.
To operate the Power Glove one would need the video game system Nintendo Entertainment System, also refered to as the NES, which has great platform games.
I have unfortunately never had the privilege of using the Power Glove but one day I will yield its powers and become the ultimate gamer!!!

Effetiveness: 4/5 - Boosts the players morale thus making his/hers skills better
Coolness: 5/5 - A space looking glove with which you can control digital characters? AWESOME!
Retro factor: 4/5 - An icon of the 80's technological progress

(data has been based upon observations from the 80's movie "The Wizard" - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098663/ )

Sandra - Mirrors

This album rocks! Not really rocks, but vibes with electro and ambient sounds. I dont know how many times I have turned this LP on my parent vinyl-player.
The album cover reveals a totally hot young woman. The ones you cant find out there today. Beautiful and sexy without beeing exposed. Inside, the red background Sandra is wearing an awesome 80s outfit that makes her look futuristic and yet retro. I found out that the music and Sandra herself are produced in Germany. Awesome production! My fav song my be "Two lovers tonight". Its sad and just makes me long for a rainy autumn night,, reflecting on how beautiful and complex life is.

layout: 5/5
entertainment: 4/5
listen @ last.fm