Tag Archives: 2D graphics

Flat, two-dimensional graphics, usually constructed of pixels. Not three-dimensional.

Amiga CD32, Cinemaware, Commodore

Defender of the Crown II, Amiga CD32

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Wow… Now this is something special… An enhanced version of Cinemaware‘s classic Defender of the Crown, with cool new sequences and graphics not seen in the original!

Defender of the Crown II was created by James D. Sachs in 1993 and is seemingly a bit of an ‘auteur piece’, since Sachs programmed it, made the graphics, and did the music himself. And – it has to be said – he did a brilliant job. Defender of the Crown II is arguably the best iteration of the original game and was clearly a labour of love for him.

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Gargoyle Games, ZX Spectrum

Tir Na Nog, ZX Spectrum

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Tir Na Nog (Irish for “Land of Youth”) is the location for this classic 1984 ZX Spectrum game, developed by Greg Follis and Roy Carter for Gargoyle Games.

You play Cuchulainn, a long-haired young man who has “departed the land of the living” (ie. died) and who finds himself walking in an afterlife patrolled by nasty creatures called Sidhe, which must be avoided at all costs.

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Crackshell, Croteam, Devolver Digital, Linux, Modern Retro, PC, SteamOS, Windows

Serious Sam’s Bogus Detour, PC

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Serious Sam’s Bogus Detour is exactly what the title of this game implies… a curveball in the Serious Sam series.

Developed by Swedish team Crackshell – in association with original Serious Sam developer, Croteam – and published in 2017 by Devolver Digital, this is an overhead shooter with pixel-based, retro-style graphics. And it is bloody brilliant! Better even than the Serious Sam games it is based upon.

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NEC, PC Engine, Telenet Japan, TurboGrafx-CD

Valis III, PC Engine

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Initially released in 1990 by Telenet Japan, Valis III is a CD-ROM-only platform game for the PC Engine. It was released for the TurboGrafx-CD in North America in 1992.

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Bad Video Games, Commodore 64, Ocean Software

A Fistful of Bucks, Commodore 64

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Created by Ian Gray and Lee Braine and published by Ocean Software in 1985, A Fistful of Bucks (aka A Fi$tful of Buck$) is a simple, scrolling cowboy shooter with you playing a bounty hunter on the hunt for cash.

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Devolver Digital, Free Lives, gog.com, Linux, MacOS, Modern Retro, PC, Steam, SteamOS, Windows

Broforce, PC

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Broforce is a satirical, side-scrolling run and gun shooter, with superb pixel graphics, and I can’t recommend it highly enough!

It’s a ‘modern retro’ game, in that: it’s a modern game (it came out in 2015), trying to look retro, and it works fantastically well. Broforce is so much fun to play…

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Game Boy Color, LucasArts, THQ, Torus Games Pty. Ltd.

Star Wars: Yoda Stories, Game Boy Color

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Released in 1999, Star Wars: Yoda Stories is a procedurally-generated pocket adventure featuring Luke Skywalker, and – of course – Yoda, and is set in the time between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi when Luke is still undergoing his Jedi training.

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Commodore 64, Terminal Software

Lazy Jones, Commodore 64

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Lazy Jones is a cult classic Commodore 64 game that tries to cram as many derivative minigames into 64K as is possible – stuff like Space Invaders, Frogger, and platform game clones (one minigame is called Eggie Chuck – a direct reference to the classic Chuckie Egg).

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Amiga, Core Design, The 8th Day

Heimdall, Amiga

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Heimdall is an isometric adventure game developed by The 8th Day and published by Core Design in 1991.

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Atari, gog.com, PC, Troika Games, Windows

The Temple of Elemental Evil, PC

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The Temple of Elemental Evil [ToEE] is a licensed Dungeons & Dragons RPG that was first released in 2003 by Atari. It is based on the Greyhawk campaign setting and uses the D&D 3.5 edition ruleset.

One look at The Temple of Elemental Evil and you’re going to think: “Baldur’s Gate“… Because it very much looks and plays like that particular game. That said: the game does have some heritage in the Fallout series, because Tim Cain (the director of the original Fallout) was also director of this.

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