The MSX version of John Van Ryzin‘s H.E.R.O. was ported by The Softworks and published by Activision in 1984.
Monthly Archives: January 2024
H.E.R.O., Atari 8-bit
John Van Ryzin‘s classic cave rescue game, H.E.R.O., was ported to Atari 8-bit computers by The Softworks and first published by Activision in 1984.
Lucienne’s Quest, 3DO
Lucienne’s Quest is a Japanese Role-Playing Game developed by Microcabin for the 3DO. It is, in fact, the only traditional JRPG released for the 3DO and was initially released in Japan in 1995. The game was localised into English and released in North America in 1996 by Panasonic.
Ordyne, Arcade
Released in Japan only, Ordyne is a cute and colourful (and very Japanese) one or simultaneous two-player ‘bullet hell’ shooter that was developed and distributed by Namco in 1988.
Gogo the Ghost, Commodore 64
Written by Marcus Charleville and Richard Dagsköld and published by Firebird in 1984, Gogo the Ghost is a simple maze game in which you must guide a friendly spectre through many screens of enemies and traps in order to rescue his “dream princess”.
Rainbow Islands, NES/Famicom
The NES version of Rainbow Islands was developed and published by Taito (it was published by Ocean Software in Europe) in 1992. It is a decent enough port of the classic arcade game but does have some deficiencies compared to the original.
Yellow Submarine, MSX
It’s not often you get a game that’s based on a Beatles song, and Yellow Submarine for the MSX is one such rare example. Published by Takeru in 1987 Yellow Submarine is of course not an official license and was slipped out to the Japanese MSX market – on cartridge – in the hope that no one at Apple Records would notice. If they did, it appears that nothing was done about it.
Salmon Run, Atari 8-bit
Written by Bill Williams (the writer and designer of Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon, among other games), for the Atari Program Exchange, and first released in 1982, Salmon Run is a clever, and uniquely different, video game based upon the life cycle of a fish – a salmon, specifically – that is trying to swim upstream to its spawning ground.
Trog, Arcade
Trog is an arcade maze game developed by Midway Manufacturing and distributed on their Bally Midway label in 1990. It caters for up to four simultaneous players and features “Claymation” characters and cut scenes (although they call it “PLAYmation” on the title screen, probably because the word “Claymation” is trademarked). Claymation is when all the characters are made of, and animated with, plasticine or coloured clay (think Wallace & Gromit and you’ll get it).
Impossamole, PC Engine
The 1991 PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 version of Gremlin Graphics‘ classic Monty Mole game is a rare treat: it’s a British-developed PC Engine game, and an alright one at that. And, believe it or not, but the PC Engine version of the game is the one that’s currently available on Steam and GOG.com.
The King of Grabs 