A Game Boy port of Falcom‘s maze-based fantasy action game, Dragon Slayer, was developed by Epoch Co., Ltd. and published by Falcom – in Japan only – in 1990. While Dragon Slayer is an ideal match for Nintendo‘s monochrome handheld marvel, this conversion does leave a bit to be desired.
Tag Archives: 1990
Rainbow Islands Extra Version, Megadrive/Genesis
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
Double Dungeons, PC Engine
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.
RoboCop 2, ZX Spectrum
Based on Irvin Kirshner‘s underrated 1990 sequel to RoboCop, in RoboCop 2 you once again take the role of the cyborg cop of the future in order to uphold the law and protect the innocent. RoboCop 2 was developed and published by Ocean Software and released soon after the film came out.
Swords and Serpents, NES/Famicom
Developed by Interplay Productions and published by Acclaim Entertainment in 1990, Swords and Serpents is a first-person, party-based RPG with tile-based movement for up to four players. You can either build a party of four characters yourself, in single-player mode, or up to four different players can control one party member each in multiplayer mode*.
*= An adapter, like the ‘NES Satellite‘, or another four-player expansion peripheral, is required if you’re going to play with that many players (but, let’s face it, very few will, although it’s nice – and fairly unique – to have the option to do that).
Trog, Arcade
Trog is an arcade maze game developed by Midway Manufacturing and distributed on their Bally Midway label in 1990. It caters for up to four simultaneous players and features “Claymation” characters and cut scenes (although they call it “PLAYmation” on the title screen, probably because the word “Claymation” is trademarked). Claymation is when all the characters are made of, and animated with, plasticine or coloured clay (think Wallace & Gromit and you’ll get it).
The Fairytale Dreams of Alice, PC Engine
Originally released for the PC Engine in 1990 in Japan only as “Fushigi no Yume no Alice” (aka Alice in Wonderdream), this challenging and colourful platform game was fan-translated in 2021 as The Fairytale Dreams of Alice and is now fully playable in English.
Rod Land, Amiga
The Amiga conversion of Rod Land is an enhanced port of the Jaleco arcade game from 1990. It features extra levels, extra animation, hidden features and bonuses, and glitch fixes. The conversion was done by Random Access and was published by Storm (a sub-label of The Sales Curve) in 1991.
Rainbow Islands, Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 port of Taito‘s classic Rainbow Islands was developed by Graftgold and first released by Ocean Software in 1990, and – gosh-darn it – it is a fantastic port of the arcade game!
Ghosts ‘N Goblins, Amiga
It has to be said that the Amiga port of Capcom‘s classic Ghosts ‘N Goblins is a damn sight better than the Atari ST version, or any of the other conversions from the 16-bit era. It was developed and published by Elite Systems in 1990 and is as close to the arcade parent as is possible on the Amiga.
The King of Grabs 