Video gaming systems.
This 1991 release from Atari Corporation is a conversion of relatively obscure arcade game from 1985, and it is a decent game on the Atari Lynx, with excellent graphics and absorbing gameplay. It was developed for the Lynx by NuFX.
Turbo Sub is a fast-moving first person shooter in which you pilot a futuristic attack submarine and must fight off an alien force attacking the Earth.
Out of Gas is a top-down action/puzzle game developed by Realtime Associates and published exclusively for the Game Boy, in North America only, by FCI (Fujisankei Communications International) in 1992. And it is generally derided by those who’ve played it.
The Amstrad CPC version of Shadow of the Beast was developed and published by Gremlin Graphics in 1990 and is similar to the ZX Spectrum version (which was also created by Gremlin), but with more on-screen colours. It requires 128K of RAM to run, so is for Amstrad 6128 machines and compatibles only, and is spread over two floppy disks.
The Atari ST port of Shadow of the Beast was converted by Mark McCubbin and published by Psygnosis in 1990. While it’s not a bad conversion it does lack the graphical fidelity of the Amiga original and is also missing quite a few features.
The Sega 32X port of id Software‘s Doom was developed and published by Sega of America in 1994. While the game doesn’t run in a full window (there’s a permanent border around the screen, probably to keep the frame rate up, which is unfortunate), it is an otherwise very good conversion, with smooth movement and decent controls.
Konami‘s brilliant PlayStation game, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, was released for the Sega Saturn in 1998, but it was only ever released in Japan (under the title “Akumajou Dracula X: Gekka no Yasoukyoku“). Thankfully, an English translation patch is available to make the game playable to those who can’t read Japanese. The patch – created by ‘Knight of Dragon’ – also features numerous bug fixes and improvements.
For those who’ve never played Symphony of the Night before: it is a direct sequel to Rondo of Blood and is rightly regarded as one of the best Castlevania games in the long-running series (if not THE best).
Continue reading Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Sega Saturn
Released for the Master System by Sega in 1986, Black Belt is a scrolling beat ’em up in the tradition of the classic Irem arcade game, Kung-Fu Master. And it is a challenging and fun game to play.
The sequel to the classic Konami arcade game, Yie Ar Kung-Fu, Yie Ar Kung-Fu 2: The Emperor Yie-Gah was only ever released for home computers and was never produced as an arcade game. It was first released for MSX compatible computers, on cartridge, in 1985.
Alongside Karate Champ, Konami‘s Yie Ar Kung-Fu had a profound effect on the beat ’em up genre and could be said to have contributed greatly to the establishment of modern fighting games. It was given a limited release in Japanese arcades in 1984 and was later rolled-out more widely – and internationally – in 1985.
Batman Returns on the Atari Lynx was first published by Atari Corporation in 1992. It’s a scrolling action game that sadly lacks fun and playability.
The King of Grabs 