Game designer Stephen J. Crow made some seminal games for the ZX Spectrum, starting with Laser Snaker in 1983 and Factory Breakout in 1984 for Poppy Soft.
Tag Archives: action
Firelord, ZX Spectrum
Stephen Crow‘s fifth commercial game for the ZX Spectrum, released by Hewson Consultants in 1986.
B-17 Bomber, Intellivision
B-17 Bomber is a very early – but really rather excellent – WWII bomber simulation, released for the Intellivision in 1982.
Quo Vadis, Commodore 64
Written by Steven T. Chapman and published by The Edge in 1984, Quo Vadis is a scrolling platform game with a large and varied cavern to explore.
Golden Hornet, PC
Golden Hornet, by Hijong Park, is an excellent ‘modern retro’-style, ‘twin stick’, helicopter-based shoot ’em up, set in a variety of different scrolling levels.
Airwolf, ZX Spectrum
Based on the infamous 1980s TV show of the same name, Airwolf hit the top of the ZX Spectrum sales charts back in 1984, but – in reality – wasn’t a particularly good game.
Ai Senshi Nicol, Famicom Disk System
Translating into English as “Love Warrior Nicol“, Ai Senshi Nicol is an obscure Konami shoot ’em up, released for the Famicom Disk System in 1987. It has, to date, never been released outside of Japan.
Arumana no Kiseki, Famicom Disk System
Konami released Arumana no Kiseki in Japan in 1987. It is an action platformer with a cool rope mechanic that you use to climb to out-of-reach platforms.
Druid, Famicom Disk System
Another weird one: a conversion of a British game to the Japan-only Famicom Disk System…
Druid was originally created by Electralyte Software for Firebird Software on the Commodore 64, and was later converted to the FDS by Jaleco in 1988.
Akumajō Dracula, Famicom Disk System
Released on 26th September 1986 in Japan, Akumajō Dracula (translating as: “Demon Castle Dracula“) was the very first release in the Castlevania series, predating the MSX version of the game by about a month. Konami released it on the Famicom Disk System where it quickly became a hit with Japanese gamers.
It began a long-running series of platform/horror-themed video games and set the template for the Castlevania series as a whole.