People forget how early Sinistar was – 1983. Which was a hell of a year for old arcade shooters!
Of the first colour arcade shooters, the class of 1983 were definitely second or third generation – in terms of ideas, patterns, movement, challenge, and sophistication. Graphically they were becoming a great improvement over early shoot ’em ups.
Sinistar is a good example of this. The graphics are much more detailed and colourful than the old arcade shooters of 1980/81.
Cavelon is an early colour arcade game from Jetsoft and was first released in 1983.
The Commodore 64 conversion of Lode Runner was a member of the original Broderbund releases of 1983 , with designer Doug Smith being ably assisted by Dane Bigham in this instance.
The Atari 800 version of Doug Smith‘s classic Lode Runner was one of the first round of original releases, by Broderbund, in 1983.
The VIC-20 version of Lode Runner was one of the initial releases from Broderbund in 1983.
Doug Smith‘s famous platform game, Lode Runner, was first released on the Apple II in 1983.
Scuba Dive on the Commodore 64 must rate as one of the worst conversions of all time.
Black Crystal is infamous for being an overpriced and under-produced RPG from the early days of home computing.
The first version of Black Crystal was the ZX81 version, which was designed and programmed by Roy Carnell and Stuart Galloway and released in 1982. A ZX Spectrum version followed in 1983, then a Commodore 64 version later in 1985.
This very early, side-scrolling fantasy action game was created by Ian Weatherburn for Imagine Software in 1983.
In the game you control the titular Alchemist – a guy who can shape-shift into a golden eagle and fly to places he can’t normally walk to.
Paul Woakes‘ classic first-person ‘tank’ shooter Encounter was released simultaneously on the Atari 800 and C64 in 1983.
The King of Grabs 