Published by Data East USA, Inc. Developed by Ocean Software Ltd. Released 1989 The summer of 1989 was the summer of the Bat. Tim Burton’s dark, brooding Batman saw the Dark Knight return to his gothic roots, smashing box-office records worldwide and it was inevitable that a home computer game would follow. Ocean Software clinched the deal. The Manchester publisher had already proven itself in the field of movie licenses with many high-profile titles such as Highlander, Platoon and Short Circuit. For such an important and lucrative license, development was…
Read MoreCategory: Commodore
The Last Ninja
Published by: System 3 Developer: System 3 Released: 1987 Also for: Acorn Electron, Apple II, BBC Micro, MS-DOS The Last Ninja is a seminal action adventure game for the Commodore 64, released in 1987. It is set on the fictional island of Lin Fen in the Yellow Sea. The evil Shogun Kunitoki has all but destroyed the Ninjutsu and is set to acquire their knowledge and powers, the key to which is held within the ancient and sacred Koga scrolls. Believing there are no ninjas left alive to threaten him, Kunitoki is set to become…
Read MoreNorth and South
Overview With the famous comic strip heroes from ‘LES TUNIQUES BLEUES’ (The Blue Jackets), imagined by LAMBIL, designed by CAUVIN and published by EDITIONS DUPUIS, re-live the American Civil War with a little bit of historical realism and a lot of humour! Your objective is ensure victory for your side (North or South) by eliminating all the enemy armies. You will be controlling armies across all the combat zones of the Civil War. You may respect history or not, as you like. 1. SELECTING 1 OR 2 PLAYERS =========================== Click…
Read MoreImpossible Mission
Published by: U.S. Gold Developer: Epyx / Dennis Caswell Released: 1984 Also for: Acorn Electron, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 7800, BBC Micro, Oric Atmos, Sega Master System, ZX Spectrum When we first got our Commodore 64 back in 1986 I knew we’d chosen well, if the size of the rack of games for the system in Boots was anything to go by. I got to know a few of the other kids at school who also had 64s, one of whom invited me to his house one afternoon and…
Read MoreMoonstone: A Hard Day’s Knight
Published by: Mindscape Developed by: Rob Anderson Released: 1991 Also for: MS-DOS Knights, dragons and druids you say? Sounds like a good old-fashioned medieval fantasy adventure game. Fun for all the family, right? In 1991, before the days of Mortal Kombat video games weren’t particularly bloodthirsty. This was partly due to Nintendo’s aversion to any form of violence in their games and the rise of Sonic, Mario and the many similarly cartoonish franchises that followed. Unlike consoles, games made for home computers didn’t have their content restricted by the hardware vendor…
Read MoreDyna-Blaster Aka Bomber Man
Published by Ubi Soft Entertainment Software Developed by Hudson Soft Company, Ltd. Released 1991 Also For Atari ST, DOS, Sharp X68000, TurboGrafx-16 The consoles and arcade smash hit Dyna Blaster: now on your computers… Place your bombs skillfully to protect you from the enemies. Collect the icons to get more bombs and larger or programmed explosions. 64 levels, various and colourful screens. Up to 5 players (with Adaptor which is included) Review: I owned this game on the Amiga 500. And I had never played Bomber Man and…
Read More4D Boxing
Published by Mindscape International Ltd. Developed by Distinctive Software, Inc. Released 1991 Platforms Amiga, DOS, FM Towns, Macintosh, PC-98 Released in 1991 4D Boxing was an excellent sports simulation that was revolutionary for its use of Polygon graphics which at the time really turned heads. The graphics were remarkable with very accurately modelled fighters who moved in a very realistic manner, the sound effects were really good (especially the sound when one of the boxers were knocked down) and the overall presentation was really impressive. The aim of the game…
Read MoreMagic Pockets
Published by Renegade Software Developed by Bitmap Brothers, The Released 1991 Platforms Acorn 32-bit, Amiga, Atari ST, DOS Released in late 1991 for a variety of machines including the Amiga 500 Magic Pockets was a really fun 2d Platform game developed by the Bitmap Brothers. You control a young man named “The Bitmap Kid” who owns a magic pair of trousers with an unlimited amount of space in the pockets. In these pockets “the Bitmap Kid” keeps all his toys and some assorted creatures, sadly one day these creatures decide to run away…
Read More4D Driving
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…
Read MoreCalifornia Games
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…
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