Tag Archives: 1991

Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Arcade

Based on the smash hit film of the same name, Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a one or two-player lightgun shooter developed and distributed by Midway in 1991. In this game you’re flung into the future (post-1997), after the nuclear holocaust caused by SkyNet, to fight for The Resistance against ‘The Machines‘.

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Bill & Ted’s Excellent Game Boy Adventure, Game Boy

Developed by prolific Aussie studio Beam Software, and published by LJN/Acclaim Entertainment, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Game Boy Adventure is a simple-but-playable platform game based loosely on the 1989 film, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. It was released in North America in 1991 and Europe in 1992.

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Devilish, Game Gear

Developed by Opera House and published by Genki in Japan, Sage’s Creation in North America, Sega in Europe, and Tec Toy in Brazil in 1991, Devilish is an excellent Breakout/Arkanoid variant where the aim is to bounce a ball to the end of a scrolling level within a strict time limit.

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Zero Wing, Megadrive/Genesis

The English language Sega Megadrive conversion of Toaplan‘s Zero Wing has gone down in history as one of the (unintentionally) funniest games of all time. The intro sequence (which was created for this version of the game and does not appear in the arcade original) features some of the most hilariously bad translations of all time, including the now iconic sentence “All your base are belong to us“, which became a meme in the early 2000s.

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Chase HQ, FM Towns

The FM Towns conversion of Taito‘s classic arcade game, Chase HQ, looks great and plays well, and is also considerably easier than the arcade original, which may appeal to some. It was published by Ving in 1991 in Japan only.

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Raiden Densetsu, FM Towns

Released in Japan as “Raiden Densetsu” (“Legend of Raiden“), but with a title screen that calls it “Raiden Trad“, this is an authentic port of the Seibu Kaihatsu arcade game Raiden, but with a few extra options.

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Shadow of the Beast, FM Towns

Shadow of the Beast on the FM Towns was first published in Japan only by Cross Media Soft – a brand of Victor Musical Industries (a subsidiary of JVC) – in 1991, and came on CD-ROM.

Tim Ansell, who programmed the FM Towns version of Shadow of the Beast (and Shadow of the Beast II), founded the famous British developer The Creative Assembly in 1987 and this was one of a number of contract ports that he did for Psygnosis in the late ’80s and early ’90s.

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Mysterium, Game Boy

Developed by Maxis Software and published by Asmik Ace Entertainment for the original Game Boy in 1991, Mysterium is an obscure first-person dungeon-crawler in which you play an alchemist’s apprentice exploring a maze – called the Mysterium – in order to complete a test.

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Pu-Li-Ru-La, Arcade

I don’t really know if Taito‘s 1991 arcade game, Pu-Li-Ru-La, is obscure, or if it’s a ‘cult game’, or if it’s based on an existing anime or not, because I’d never even heard of it until recently. It’s a cartoony, one or simultaneous two-player beat ’em up featuring a boy and a girl who are given magical sticks to fight enemies in order to restore the flow of time in a place called “Radishland“…

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Marble Madness II, Arcade

***CANNED GAME***

Marble Madness II is the unreleased sequel to the classic Marble Madness. It was developed in 1991 by Atari Games and underwent market testing in a variety of locations, but these were deemed a failure so the game was cancelled and never released.

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