Tag Archives: 8-bit

Castelian, NES

Castelian is the Nintendo Entertainment System port of John Phillipsclassic Commodore 64 game, Nebulus. It was developed by Bits Studios and published by Triffix Entertainment in 1991.

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The Arc of Yesod, ZX Spectrum

The Arc of Yesod is the sequel to Nodes of Yesod and was actually published the same year as Nodes, in 1985. The game was again developed by Odin Computer Graphics, but this time was published by Thor Computer Software.

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Nodes of Yesod, ZX Spectrum

Nodes of Yesod is a platform exploration game created by Liverpool-based Odin Computer Graphics and first published for the ZX Spectrum in 1985.

At the time it was a critical hit – mostly because the presentation is top notch – but playing the game now you really have to wonder what all the fuss was about, because it really is one of the most frustrating Spectrum games ever made…

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The Great American Cross Country Road Race, Atari 8-bit

This simple but playable road racing game was written by Alex DeMeo for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers and was first published by Activision in 1985.

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Bobby Bearing, Amstrad CPC

Robert and Trevor Figgins‘ isometric action/puzzle game, Bobby Bearing, originated on the ZX Spectrum but is arguably slightly better on the Amstrad CPC.

The game features the titular character, Bobby, who is a smiling ball bearing who can roll around, fit through holes, push things, and… erm, not much else. He does have character, though.

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Escape From Singe’s Castle, Commodore 64

In my review of Software ProjectsCommodore 64 interpretation of Dragon’s Lair I ended by saying that this game – Escape From Singe’s Castle – was a “much better” sequel to that game. Which is only partially true. It’s pretty much the same kind of thing as Dragon’s Lair, only with slightly better minigames and slightly better graphics. So “much better” is probably pushing it…

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Dragon’s Lair, Commodore 64

This 8-bit interpretation of the much-loved laserdisc arcade game was developed and published by Software Projects in 1986 and it is an exercise in frustration from start to finish.

Dragon’s Lair is actually a conversion of a Coleco Adam game that was published at the tail end of 1984. Software Projects acquired the license to convert it to home systems in the UK and made two games out of it.

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Cliff Hanger, Commodore 64

Written by James Day and initially published by New Generation Software in 1984, Cliff Hanger is a Wild West-themed game based on the popular ‘Looney Tunes‘ cartoon Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner.

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Panther, Atari 8-bit

This Mastertronic Atari 8-bit budget release from 1987 feels like a budget game – and I don’t mean that as a compliment. It feels like an unfinished, un-polished game.

Panther is an isometric shoot ’em up in the style of Zaxxon, but with very little going on in the game itself.

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