Monthly Archives: February 2024

Aisystem Tokyo, Megadrive/Genesis, Taito, Ving

Rainbow Islands Extra Version, Megadrive/Genesis

Leave a comment

The “Extra Version” of Taito‘s classic Rainbow Islands is a modified version of the original arcade game, where the levels have been rearranged and the enemies changed to make the game more challenging. There are some new power-ups to discover, and the bosses have also been changed too. Rainbow Islands Extra was released into arcades in limited quantities in 1988, and was also released on the Sega Megadrive in 1990 and the FM Towns in 1992.

Continue reading Rainbow Islands Extra Version, Megadrive/Genesis →

Antstream, Commodore 64, Epyx, US Gold

The Movie Monster Game, Commodore 64

Leave a comment

Developed and published by Epyx in 1986, The Movie Monster Game is a love letter to classic monster movies of the mid 20th Century. In it you play as a gigantic creature, laying waste to various cities around the world.

Continue reading The Movie Monster Game, Commodore 64 →

Konami, NES/Famicom

Lagrange Point, NES/Famicom

Leave a comment

Released in Japan only by Konami in 1991, Lagrange Point is a science fantasy JRPG set on a human colony ship in space (located at the Lagrangian points between Earth and the Sun). Communications are lost between colonies, so a search team is sent in to investigate.

Continue reading Lagrange Point, NES/Famicom →

Game Boy Advance, Saffire, Inc., Sierra On-line

The Hobbit, Game Boy Advance

Leave a comment

The Game Boy Advance version of The Hobbit was developed by Saffire, Inc. and first released by Sierra Entertainment in 2003. This game is based on Tolkien‘s famous book, and not the Peter Jackson films (the first Hobbit film was released in 2012, and this game actually came out the same year as The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King).

Continue reading The Hobbit, Game Boy Advance →

ACE, Commodore 64, Softek

Alien Syndrome, Commodore 64

Leave a comment

The C64 version of Alien Syndrome was developed by Softek International and published under their ACE label in 1988. It is a very good port of the Sega arcade game, although it does have one issue that might annoy players…

Continue reading Alien Syndrome, Commodore 64 →

Masaya Games, NCS Corporation, NEC, PC Engine, TurboGrafx-16

Double Dungeons, PC Engine

Leave a comment

Developed by NCS Corporation and published by Masaya Games in Japan and NEC in North America in 1990, Double Dungeons is a one or two-player, first-person, dungeon-crawling JRPG with real-time combat. The game’s unique selling point is that it features two-player split-screen cooperative play, which is unusual for a game like this, and which makes it simultaneously playable with a friend.

Continue reading Double Dungeons, PC Engine →

Dreams Co., Ltd., Game Boy Color, Taito, TDK Mediactive

Rainbow Islands, Game Boy Color

Leave a comment

Rainbow Islands on the Game Boy Color was ported by Dreams Co., Ltd. and published by TDK Mediactive in 2001. From what I can tell it was only released in Europe, which – considering it was created by a Japanese developer – is a little strange.

Continue reading Rainbow Islands, Game Boy Color →

Amiga CD32, Microprose, MPS Labs

Pirates! Gold, Amiga CD32

1 Comment

The Amiga CD32 version of Pirates! Gold is a remake of the original Pirates! and was published in 1994 by MicroProse. It is considered by some to be the best version of the game available, but I disagree with that.

Continue reading Pirates! Gold, Amiga CD32 →