Category Archives: Systems

Video gaming systems.

Ecstatica II, PC

This sequel to Andrew Spencer Studios‘ brilliant Ecstatica is a worthy survival horror game in its own right. In it you play a knight trapped inside a gigantic castle full of monsters and must fight your way out to freedom.

Continue reading Ecstatica II, PC

Boulder Dash, ColecoVision

The ColecoVision conversion of Peter Liepa and Chris Gray‘s classic Atari 8-bit game, Boulder Dash, is really quite wonderful. It was converted by Micro Lab and published on the Micro Fun label in 1984.

Continue reading Boulder Dash, ColecoVision

Crystals of Arborea, Amiga

Trees, trees, and more trees! That’s what you get when you explore the ancient island kingdom of Arborea. And with a name like that it is no surprise.

Crystals of Arborea is a real-time, first-person, tile-based, party-driven RPG with combat, exploration, and day/night scenes where the colours cycle to give you a nice atmospheric setting.

Continue reading Crystals of Arborea, Amiga

Crystals of Arborea, PC

Crystals of Arborea is the predecessor to the Ishar series of games. It’s a first-person, tile-based RPG, with a character-based party system and turn-based combat.

Continue reading Crystals of Arborea, PC

Ishar 3: The Seven Gates of Infinity, Atari ST

The third and final instalment in the Ishar series, Ishar 3: The Seven Gates of Infinity was released by Silmarils in 1994.

It plays similarly to the previous two games (ie. first-person, real-time RPG), but with further refinement and a somewhat different setting – at least initially.

Continue reading Ishar 3: The Seven Gates of Infinity, Atari ST

Ishar 2: Messengers of Doom, Atari ST

The sequel to the interesting Ishar, Ishar 2: Messengers of Doom is a French, first-person RPG with atmospheric graphics and challenging party-based gameplay. It was first released in 1993.

Thankfully, Ishar 2 rights some of the wrongs of the first game. You can actually see where you are on the map now, which is a blessed relief, and the interface has been cleaned-up a bit, making movement and combat a bit easier.

Continue reading Ishar 2: Messengers of Doom, Atari ST

Ishar: Legend of the Fortress, Atari ST

The first in a trilogy of French Role-Playing Games published by Silmarils, Ishar: Legend of the Fortress is an atmospheric, first-person, party-based RPG with challenging gameplay, released in 1992.

Continue reading Ishar: Legend of the Fortress, Atari ST