Tag Archives: 1991

Hudson Hawk, ZX Spectrum

Based on the 1991 action/comedy film by Michael Lehmann (Heathers and Meet The Applegates), and starring Bruce Willis, Hudson Hawk on the Spectrum is a rare beast indeed. It is a game that is better than the film it is based upon…

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Total Eclipse 2: The Sphinx Jinx, Commodore 64

Published by Incentive Software in 1991, Total Eclipse 2: The Sphinx Jinx is a direct follow-up to the 1988 Freescape classic, Total Eclipse.

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Decap Attack, Megadrive/Genesis

Decap Attack is a side-scrolling platform game, developed by Vic Tokai and published by Sega in 1991. This game was originally released in Japan, in 1990, as “Magical Hat no Buttobi Tābo! Daibōken“, but developer Vic Tokai failed to secure the Magical Hat license for use outside of Japan, so decided to remove all traces of it, and completely re-skin the game. So Decap Attack is essentially a Westernised re-skinning of Magical Hat no Buttobi Tābo! Daibōken.

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Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters, Game Boy

Developed by Nintendo and TOSE Co., Ltd., Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters is the sequel to Kid Icarus – a much-loved game released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986. Of Myths and Monsters was published by Nintendo, exclusively for the original Game Boy, in 1991 in North America, and 1992 in Europe. For some reason, it wasn’t released in Japan, where it was made.

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Poogaboo: La Pulga 2, ZX Spectrum

The ZX Spectrum version of Poogaboo: La Pulga 2 – the sequel to the classic Bugaboo (The Flea) – was coded by the same guy who created the original (Paco Suárez), so plays similarly, and is also what I’d call an authentic sequel.

Poogaboo was only ever released in Spain – by Opera Soft, in 1991 – so is relatively obscure as Spectrum games go. I’m a big fan of the original Bugaboo, but hadn’t heard of this sequel until recently, so was pleasantly surprised by its existence.

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Salamander, PC Engine

The PC Engine version of Salamander was first released by Konami in 1991, and it demonstrates why NEC‘s small-form console was so ahead of everything else at the time. It has great graphics and sound, smooth scrolling, large objects moving around the screen, very little sprite tearing, responsive controls, and a simultaneous two-player gameplay mode.

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Shinobi, Game Gear

Also known as “The G.G. Shinobi“, this was the first Shinobi game released for a handheld console, initially coming out in 1991.

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Poogaboo: La Pulga 2, PC

Poogaboo: La Pulga 2 is the rather obscure sequel to the ZX Spectrum classic, Bugaboo (The Flea), aka La Pulga. It was written by the original author of La Pulga (Paco Suárez), and was published by Opera Soft, for PC MS-DOS, the ZX Spectrum, MSX and Amstrad CPC, in 1991.

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Bomberman II, NES/Famicom

Released in 1991 in Japan and Europe, and in 1993 in North America, Bomberman II is the sequel to 1985’s Bomberman on the NES/Famicom, and it features improved graphics and a multiplayer mode for competitive games against other players (a first for the series). Bomberman II is more in line with the excellent PC Engine version of Bomberman, than anything radically different, and it does improve parts of the game considerably.

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