2016 – Page 6 – RETRO GAMESMASTER

4D Driving

7th April 201624th May 2021 Peter Ward

Published by Mindscape International Ltd. Developed by Distinctive Software, Inc. Released Jan, 1992 Also For DOS, FM Towns, PC-98 Released in 1992 for the Commodore Amiga 500 4D Driving is a conversion of a classic arcade driving game called Stunts, and for the most part it is a very good one. Firstly the good points, the graphics are superb this was the first driving game I ever played on a home format that had proper polygons and a 3d engine. The sound effects and music are also excellent (indeed this…

California Games

5th April 20168th April 2022 Peter Ward

Published by: U.S. Gold Developer: Epyx Released: 1987 Also for: Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Atari 2600, Atari Lynx, Atari ST, MS-DOS, MSX, NES, Sega Megadrive / Genesis, Sega Master System, ZX Spectrum, Virtual Console Overview: Epyx took us to the Golden State for this instalment of the Games series, keeping the same blend of stunning visuals, immersive atmosphere and slick feedback we had come to expect as well as the slight wackiness of the events found in World Games. If you’re not familiar with the series, there are six very different sporting events and each is represented by…

Theme Park

4th April 201624th May 2021 Peter Ward

Published by Acid Software Developed by Bullfrog Productions, Ltd. Released 1994 Also For 3DO, Amiga CD32, DOS, FM Towns, Genesis, Jaguar, Macintosh,Nintendo DS, PC-98, PlayStation, PlayStation 3, PSP, PS Vita, SEGA CD, SEGA Saturn, SNES, Windows Released in 1994 Theme Park was a Resource Management game where you attempt to run a successful Amusement park. This game was released on many formats including Super Nintendo, Megadrive and even the Atari Jaguar but it is this version on the Amiga which I prefer (mainly due to the ability to use a Mouse and Keyboard).…

Retro Arcade At Home Part 1

3rd April 20168th April 2022 Peter Ward

Written by Scott Moyer Remember a time in your life when you felt like you were meant to be there. You truly embrace the moment. For me that was playing Video games at an arcade. Was it the lights the low bit rate audio, well whatever it was the arcades had me hooked. I always found myself saving up money to have it taking by space invader Pac-Man and so on. Now in this world of Next gen gaming , which is great don’t get me wrong. Just does not…

Rainbow Islands

31st March 201624th May 2021 Peter Ward

Published by Taito America Corporation Developed by Taito Corporation Released 1987 Platforms Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Arcade, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Boy Color, J2ME, NES, TurboGrafx CD, Windows, ZX Spectrum Rainbow Islands was released in arcades way back in 1987, a sequel to the very successful Bubble Bobble this game is essentially a fast paced 2d platformer where the player has to outrun the rising tide and reach the top of the island using rainbows as makeshift platforms. The game was hugely well received and so it was only a matter of time…

Championship Manager 2

30th March 201624th May 2021 Peter Ward

Published by Domark Software, Inc. Developed by Sports Interactive Limited Released 1995 Official Site Championship Manager 2 Platforms Amiga, DOS When I first saw a friend of mine playing Championship Manager 2 on the Amiga I did not see what all the fuss was about, I mean sure I love footy games and I always enjoy resource management games also but this game looked like nothing more than a spreadsheet. How wrong I was! This game is one of the finest Amiga games of all time and despite there being no graphics whatsoever (it is…

Final Fantasy 3 aka VI

29th March 20168th April 2022 Peter Ward

Published by Square Soft, Inc. Developed by Square Co., Ltd. Released Oct, 1994 Also For Android, Fire OS, Game Boy Advance, iPad, iPhone, PlayStation,PlayStation 3, PSP, PS Vita, Wii, Wii U, Windows Warning: If you have not played this game and plan to, there are spoilers in this review. Just a heads-up. Final Fantasy 6. Ask many people what they believe to be the best RPG’s and chances are this is on their list. As I write this review, I am listening to the soundtrack to Final Fantasy 6 and feeling nostalgic as I remember experiencing this game for the first time. We begin…

Wonderland Dizzy

27th March 20168th April 2022 Peter Ward

Check out our Oliver Twins Interview Click Here I have been playing the Dizzy games from the days of my ZX Spectrum and played most of them and enjoyed the challenging platform and puzzles. I did manage to complete Treasure Island Dizzy and Fantasy World Dizzy. I also still own Dizzy on my Megadrive. I was astonished to read that an unearthed unreleased Dizzy game by the Oliver Twins had been found and uncompiled and debugged and released for free as a NES rom. I could not resist to try…

Daytona USA Championship Circuit Edition

25th March 20168th April 2022 Peter Ward

Published by SEGA of America, Inc. Developed by SEGA-AM2 Co., LTD., Sega AM3 R&D Division Released May 17, 1996 Platform SEGA Saturn The Sega Saturn version of the original Daytona USA (released in 1995) was a superb arcade racer that whilst not arcade perfect was amongst the finest racing games available on the console. The following year Sega released a follow up Daytona USA Championship Circuit Edition, this game fixes some of the flaws in the original but sadly brings new problems at the same time. Firstly the good, the graphics have been cleaned up considerably. The original…

Donkey Kong Country 3

24th March 20168th April 2022 Peter Ward

Published by Nintendo of America Inc. Developed by Rare, Ltd. Released Nov 01, 1996 Also For Game Boy Advance, Wii, Wii U Released in late 1996 Donkey Kong Country 3 was the final game in the series on the Super Nintendo and despite not being as good as the earlier 2 games it is still a classic 2d platformer. The graphics are the same very high quality CGI that we have come to expect from the series (still hard to believe that this game is on Super Nes and not Nintendo 64). The soundtrack…