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.
Tag Archives: 1990
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.
Chase HQ, Game Boy
There are two versions of Taito‘s classic arcade driving game, Chase HQ, available for the original Game Boy, and this is the first one – developed by British company Bits Studios and first released in 1990 in North America and 1991 in Japan.
Ghosts ‘N Goblins, Atari ST
The Atari ST version of Ghosts ‘N Goblins was programmed by Michael Delves, with graphics by Zippo Games, and was published by Elite Systems in 1990. It is a somewhat ‘funky’ port, with cartoony graphics and gameplay that is easier than the arcade parent.
Chase HQ, PC Engine
The PC Engine version of Taito‘s classic car chase game, Chase HQ, is pretty decent. It was ported by Daiei Seisakusho for Taito , and is reasonably accurate, although it’s not quite as good as the arcade original itself. No surprises there, really, because the PC Engine (or the North American TurboGrafx-16 counterpart) is a small 8-bit console that was known for punching above its weight, but it wasn’t able to perform miracles.
