Magician Lord, Neo Geo

Magician Lord is a bit of a rarity on the Neo Geo – it’s a scrolling action game based on fantasy characters. It’s like a run-and-gun game with magic, basically. Not the kind of game you see very often on the Neo Geo, and it’s a decent game to boot.

Continue reading Magician Lord, Neo Geo

Guile, Archimedes

The best way to describe Guile on the Archimedes is: it’s a lot like David Braben‘s Zarch (aka Virus), but set in tunnels. And if you’ve ever played Zarch before then you’ll know that that means that this game is gonna be difficult…

The box describes Guile as: “a unique three-dimensional flight simulator set in a dungeon adventure“, which is sure to have any rational gamer scratching their head in confusion.

Continue reading Guile, Archimedes

Micronaut One, ZX Spectrum

Micronaut One is another interesting game from Tau Ceti creator Pete Cooke. Mr. Cooke was known for making innovative, unusual, and technically-impressive games for the ZX Spectrum that were different to the norm. This one was published by Nexus in 1987 and involves travelling down 3D corridors and shooting weird alien insects that are infesting a biocomputer.

Continue reading Micronaut One, ZX Spectrum

Crusader of Centy, Megadrive/Genesis

Crusader of Centy is a Zelda-like action/adventure game developed by Nextech and published by Atlus in North America and Sega in Japan and Europe. The game was released in Japan first – in 1994 – and everywhere else in 1995. In Europe the game was re-named as “Soliel“.

Continue reading Crusader of Centy, Megadrive/Genesis

Wonder Boy, Commodore 64

Wonder Boy on the C64 is a conversion of the 1986 Sega arcade game. It was developed by Images Design for Activision and published in 1987.

Continue reading Wonder Boy, Commodore 64

Mr. Driller Drill Land, GameCube

Developed by Project Driller (an internal, dedicated team within Namco), Mr. Driller Drill Land was released exclusively for the GameCube in Japan in 2002 and is the fifth instalment in the Mr. Driller series. And it is arguably the best game in the series.

Continue reading Mr. Driller Drill Land, GameCube

Outlaws, PC

Developed and published by LucasArts in 1997, Outlaws is a first-person shoot ’em up set in the Wild West. The graphics are cartoony and the music is very much inspired by Ennio Morricone‘s classic The Good the Bad and the Ugly soundtrack, which gives it a distinct atmosphere that made it stand out against many of its peers of the time.

Continue reading Outlaws, PC

Super Skidmarks, Megadrive/Genesis

Super Skidmarks is an isometric racing game developed by New Zealand-based Acid Software and published by Codemasters for the Sega Megadrive/Genesis in 1995. It was originally released for the Amiga and Amiga CD32 and is the sequel to the 1993 game Skidmarks.

Continue reading Super Skidmarks, Megadrive/Genesis

R.C. Pro-Am II, NES/Famicom

This 1992 sequel to R.C. Pro-Am was once again developed by Rare, but this time was published by Tradewest (not Nintendo), and is pretty much the same kind of game as before: a scrolling isometric racing game featuring small, remote-controlled cars.

Continue reading R.C. Pro-Am II, NES/Famicom

Championship Pro-Am, Megadrive/Genesis

Championship Pro-Am is an “enhanced” remake of the classic NES racing game R.C. Pro-Am. It was developed by Rare and published on the Megadrive/Genesis by Tradewest in 1992.

I’m emphasising the word “enhanced” here out of pure sarcasm, because – when you look at the game closely – there is very little that is actually enhanced over the original, other than the graphics. In fact: it is a very bare bones port and the Megadrive deserved better from Rare.

Continue reading Championship Pro-Am, Megadrive/Genesis