Tag Archives: action

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, Game Boy Advance

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon was the first Castlevania game released for the Game Boy Advance. It was developed by Konami‘s Kobe division and released in 2001.

Circle of the Moon was also a launch title for the GBA and went on to sell over one million physical units worldwide.

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Car Battler Joe, Game Boy Advance

Car Battler Joe is an interesting cross between a JRPG and a driving game. It was developed for the Game Boy Advance by Ancient and published in 2001.

In some respects the driving sections remind me of Tranz Am, but they’re much more varied and the car you drive is more dynamic than in Ultimate‘s classic driving game. In truth Car Battler Joe is probably more influenced by Origin‘s 1985 game Autoduel and Steve Jackson‘s post apocalyptic RPG, Cars Wars.

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Metroid: Zero Mission, Game Boy Advance

There are two Metroid games on the Game Boy Advance. One is an original game, called Metroid Fusion, and there’s also this one: Metroid: Zero Mission, which is a remake of the original Metroid.

It was first released in 2004 and features modernised graphics and gameplay, but the same core gameplay as the 1986 original.

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Super Pipeline II, Commodore 64

The sequel to the superb Super Pipeline is more of the same frantic pipe-fixing action, with you playing a foreman, directing helpers to fix holes in order to keep the water flowing.

Actually, is it water, or is it oil? I don’t know…

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Super Pipeline, Commodore 64

In the early 1980s a Bridlington-based company called Taskset made some stand-out Commodore 64 games and Super Pipeline is one of their best.

In fact, only the sequel – Super Pipeline II – is on a par with this entertaining game, at least as far as Taskset output is concerned.

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Little Ninja Brothers, NES

Little Ninja Brothers is the second game in the “Super Chinese” series* and the predecessor of Super Ninja Boy on the SNES. It was developed and published by Culture Brain in Japan in 1989. North America got it in 1990 and Europe in 1991.

It is an excellent one or two-player level-grinding RPG, with random battles, but instead of turn-based combat you get real time beat ’em up action instead, and works very well.

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Super Ninja Boy, Super Nintendo

Super Ninja Boy is an action role-playing game developed by Culture Brain and released on the SNES in 1991 in Japan, and in 1993 in North America.

It’s a sequel to Culture Brain‘s previous title, Little Ninja Brothers for the NES, and it’s not a brilliant game the truth be told, but it does hold a special place in my heart because it was one of the first games I ever reviewed as games journalist.

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Conqueror, Archimedes

Conqueror is a 1988 release from Superior Software, designed and programmed by Jonathan Griffiths. It’s a 3D tank game that was released as a sequel to Zarch – and it uses the same game engine.

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Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, PSP

A handheld spin-off from the infamous Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, this one made by Rockstar Leeds (in association with Rockstar North), and published on the PlayStation Portable in 2006.

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Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, PSP

Published by Square Enix in 2007, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII is a Sony PSP exclusive that pays tribute to the classic Final Fantasy VII, but with a different style of combat. It was released for the 10th anniversary of FF7.

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