Epyx programmed this 1988 conversion of California Games themselves, and – to be honest – it’s actually not that bad, considering the Atari 2600‘s limitations.
Tag Archives: 1988
Draconus, Atari 800
Draconus is a 1988 release on the Atari 800 by British developer Zeppelin Games. It is a platform game with more than a hint of Metroidvania about it.
Sega Megadrive/Genesis Special
Known as the Megadrive in Japan and Europe, and the Genesis in North America, this was Sega‘s fourth generation home video games console and it was launched in 1988 in Japan (1989 in North America and 1990 in Europe).
The Megadrive/Genesis is a 16-bit console with a built-in slot for cartridges, which is how most games were played on it. It had backwards compatibility with its predecessor, the Sega Master System, and it also had a variety of important add-ons released for it, including the Sega CD and the 32X.
The unit came with two standard, three-button pads, then later (after Street Fighter II came out on the Megadrive) six button pads (like the one picture below) became more widespread.
The Megadrive sold more than 30 millions units worldwide, until it was discontinued by Sega in 1997 (although it was still being sold and supported by Majesco Entertainment until 1999).
Sega‘s console has a huge library of superb games and many are still being re-released to this day. So here’s our tribute to Sega‘s classic machine with a week of nothing but Megadrive games.
Here’s a full list of what was published:
Desert Strike
Jungle Strike
Urban Strike
Gunstar Heroes
Road Rash 3
The Immortal
Mega Bomberman
MUSHA
Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
Herzog Zwei
Flashback
Pier Solar and the Great Architects
Castlevania: Bloodlines
Toejam & Earl
Cosmic Spacehead
Phantasy Star III
Enjoy,
The King of Grabs
More: Megadrive/Genesis on Wikipedia
Ghostbusters, NES
The Nintendo Entertainment System version of David Crane‘s Ghostbusters is known for being a bit of a mess, compared to all the other versions.
It was initially released in Japan in 1986 and later in North America in 1988. Why the two year delay? Probably something to do with the fact that the game is terrible…
Herzog, MSX
This obscure Japanese action game is a prototype of one of the first ever real-time strategy games – Herzog Zwei on the Sega Megadrive – and it is also one of the best games you can play on an MSX.
Herzog was developed and published on disk for the MSX2 by Techno Soft (nee, Tecno Soft) in 1988.
Crazy Climber 2, Arcade
The 1988 sequel to Crazy Climber, Crazy Climber 2 is much the same as before. That is: scaling up the side of large buildings; avoiding hazards as you do so.
And, like the first game, it was developed by Nihon Bussan Co. Ltd. and manufactured by Nichibutsu.
Altered Beast, Arcade
Altered Beast is an influential Sega beat ’em up first released into arcades in 1988. In some respects it was the predecessor to Golden Axe and Alien Storm; both similar games, and both to come later from Sega.
Narc, Arcade
Created by Williams Electronics in 1988, Narc is a side-scrolling run-and-gun shooter that attracted a lot of controversy when it first came out.
Atomic Robo-Kid, Arcade
Atomic Robo-Kid is a horizontally-scrolling, progressive weapons shooter, designed by Tsutomu Fujisawa and manufactured by UPL in 1988.
It’s not a very well-known arcade game, but does have its fans. It also managed to get converted to a number of home systems too (including for the Sega Megadrive, but it never appeared on the SNES).
Rex, ZX Spectrum
Rex is a very enjoyable platform shooter, created by Neil Harris, John Anderson, and Richard Allen and published by Martech in 1988. Some describe it as a ‘Metroidvania‘ type game, although it reminds me more of another Spectrum classic – Starquake. Or maybe a Monty Mole game, crossed with Cybernoid.
