There’s no doubting that Ocean Software‘s 1989 Spectrum conversion of Taito‘s classic Chase HQ is impressive. Programmed by John O’Brien, with graphics by Bill Harbison, and sound by Jonathan Dunn, this 8-bit chase game really pushes the Spectrum to its limits, and puts pretty much every other third-person driving game on the Speccy to shame, with its amazing road movement and exciting gameplay.
Tag Archives: 2D graphics
Flat, two-dimensional graphics, usually constructed of pixels. Not three-dimensional.
The Adventure of Little Ralph, PlayStation
The Adventure of Little Ralph (aka “Chippoke Ralph no Daibōken“) is an obscure 2D action game, made exclusively for the PlayStation, developed by New Corporation and released in Japan only in 1999. The game has a serious reputation among PS1 fans ‘in the know’ as being one of the best import games available for the system. And I wouldn’t disagree with that.
Double Take, Commodore 64
Created by Denton Designs and published by Ocean Software in 1987, Double Take is a weird fantasy shooter/puzzle game, and is one of those games where – even if you read the manual – you’re still unlikely to know about what the f**k is going on! I spent a few hours recently trying to work this game out, and came away just as confused as when I started…
The Sword of Hope II, Game Boy
The sequel to the first Sword of Hope, The Sword of Hope II was developed and published by KEMCO in Japan in 1992, but wasn’t localized and released into North America until 1996. Europe (and the rest of the world) didn’t receive a release of the game at all.
The Sword of Hope, Game Boy
This first-person adventure/RPG was developed by KEMCO (a subsidiary of Kotobuki Engineering & Manufacturing Co.), and published by Seika Corporation in Japan, North America and Europe in 1989. In it, you play as Prince Theo, who is on a quest to challenge his insane, power-mad father for rule of the kingdom.
Seal of the Pharaoh, 3DO
Seal of the Pharaoh is a first-person dungeon-crawler with a tomb-raiding ancient Egyptian theme. It was developed by System Sacom and published in 1994, exclusively for the 3DO, by ASK Kodansha in Japan and Panasonic in North America.
Typhoon Thompson in Search for the Sea Child, Atari ST
Developed by Dan Gorlin Productions and originally released for the Atari ST by Brøderbund in 1988, Typhoon Thompson in Search for the Sea Child is a simple but brilliant shooter/collect ’em up with analogue controls.
Continue reading Typhoon Thompson in Search for the Sea Child, Atari ST
Conan, Commodore 64
Datasoft‘s 1984 release, Conan, is a curious game. It doesn’t seem to be directly related to either of the two Conan films released in the early ’80s (although it does use artwork from the sequel, Conan the Destroyer), so my guess is that it was a quick cash-in on the popularity of Arnold Schwarzenegger by the developers.
The game was originally written for the Apple II by Eric Robinson and Eric Parker, and the Commodore 64 version was created by Ron J. Fortier and John Butrovich.
RoboCop, Amiga
Ocean Software‘s Amiga port of RoboCop was fairly impressive when it first came out in 1989, but – playing it now – it hasn’t stood the test of time particularly well. It’s a scrolling run-and-gun shooter that is loosely-based on the Data East arcade game of the same name (although the arcade game and the home computer versions were developed in parallel).
Super Street Fighter II Turbo, 3DO
The 3DO has a surprisingly good port of Capcom‘s classic beat ’em up, Super Street Fighter II. It was released as Super Street Fighter II Turbo and features a few tweaks that differentiate it from other versions of the game, such as fight speed (three settings) and a difficulty slider (eight settings).
The King of Grabs 