Tag Archives: action

Media.Vision, PlayStation, Sony

Rapid Reload, PlayStation

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Called Gunner’s Heaven in its native Japan, Rapid Reload is a run-and-gun scrolling shooter with amazing 2D graphics, massive amounts of destruction, and lots of tough boss battles. It was developed by Media.Vision and published by Sony.

Rapid Reload was first released for the PlayStation in 1995 and made an immediate impression with gamers, predominantly because of the action-packed gameplay and the sheer amount of on-screen carnage. Outside of arcades, little had been seen on this scale before – at least in terms of the amount of stuff going on on-screen. You only have to play the first level to know what you’ve got in store when you play Rapid Reload.

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Amstrad CPC, Design Design, Piranha

Nosferatu the Vampyre, Amstrad CPC

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This Amstrad CPC conversion of the classic ZX Spectrum game definitely benefits from having better use of colour than the original. It also runs a little faster than the Speccy version, which makes it slightly more playable.

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Commodore 64, Datasoft, US Gold

The Goonies, Commodore 64

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Released the same year as Richard Donner‘s classic adventure comedy film of the same name, The Goonies by Datasoft is a multi-screen action adventure game for one or two players.

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Impact Software Development, Ocean Software, ZX Spectrum

Nightbreed, ZX Spectrum

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Nightbreed is a relatively obscure movie license from Ocean Software, based on the Clive Barker film of the same name (which was based on his 1988 book, Cabal). It was designed and programmed by Chris Kerry and Mark Rogers.

Chris Kerry you might remember from Jack and the Beanstalk and Monty Is Innocent infamy; Mark Rogers had programmed a number of games by this point, including Avenger and Run the Gauntlet.

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Konami, MSX

Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, MSX

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Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake is a direct sequel to the original Metal Gear and was first released for the MSX2 by Konami in 1990. It was again written and designed by Hideo Koijima and is much better than the half-baked pseudo sequel, Snake’s Revenge, by Ultra Games on the NES.

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Konami, NES/Famicom, Ultra Games

Snake’s Revenge, NES

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Snake’s Revenge is a sequel to Metal Gear that was developed specifically for the North American and European NES markets by Konami and Ultra Games. It first came out in North America in 1990, and in Europe in 1992. Why there was a two-year gap between those releases is anyone’s guess.

Hideo Koijima wasn’t involved in the making of Snake’s Revenge and it is considered ‘non-canonical’, but he did make Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake for the MSX in response to it. I’m guessing that he wasn’t particularly enamoured with the idea of another team working on his signature series, but ultimately he (rather diplomatically) says that Snake’s Revenge is “not a bad game“.

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Konami, NES/Famicom, Ultra Games

Metal Gear, NES

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This reworked Nintendo Entertainment System port of the MSX version of Metal Gear first came out in 1987 (1988 in North America), just three months after the original. While it’s considered (rightly) to be inferior to the original MSX version it was a major hit and went on to sell over a million units in the United States alone.

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Konami, MSX

Metal Gear, MSX

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The very first Metal Gear was originally released in 1987 by Konami for the MSX2. It was Hideo Koijima‘s first fully-developed game and went on to spawn a successful series across many platforms. The hero, Solid Snake, has since gone on to become a video game icon.

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Atari Corporation, Atari Lynx, Tengen

Hydra, Atari Lynx

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Hydra is a third-person powerboat action game with driving game mechanics and presentation, and it’s fair to say that it is mostly hated by people who play it. It’s not that bad though… It’s actually a conversion of an obscure Atari arcade game from 1990. This conversion was released on the Lynx in 1992.

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Atari, Inc., Chequered Ink Ltd., PC, Steam, Windows

Pong Quest, PC

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This modern take on a retro classic sees you take control of a “brave young paddle” on a quest to unlock the mystery of “The Spooky Door”.

Pong Quest is of course a re-imagining of the classic Atari arcade game, Pong, with cute, colourful graphics, a large variety of different Pong balls, and single and multiplayer play modes.

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