Tag Archives: action

Cavernia, Atari 8-bit

A British platform game that came quite late in the life of the Atari 8-bit computers (released by Zeppelin Games in 1990), Cavernia is a fairly simple left to right run-and-jump-a-thon but with nice presentation and decent controls.

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Boulder Dash, Atari 8-bit

Peter Liepa and Chris Gray‘s classic Boulder Dash was first released for the Atari 8-bit in 1984 (the Commodore 64 version came later).

Boulder Dash is one of those games that is very simple, but also very clever. Not to mention: extremely devious. In some levels, if you put a foot wrong, you’re toast and must re-start.

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Fort Apocalypse, Atari 8-bit

Steve Hales‘ superb Fort Apocalypse is a classic American video game that originated on Atari 8-bit home computers in 1982.

The game is a multi-directional, scrolling shooter where you control a helicopter flying around a series of underground caverns looking for men to rescue.

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Rescue On Fractalus, Atari 8-bit

The Atari 800 version of Rescue On Fractalus was released in 1984 and was the first version available. It was a critical success and drew quite a lot of attention to Atari 8-bit home computers (jealous Commodore 64 owners had to wait almost a year before they got a conversion).

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Con-Quest, ZX Spectrum

Con-Quest is a 1986 ZX Spectrum release from Mastertronic, created by the inimitable Derek Brewster.

In it you play a character called Oscar who has just inherited a large castle. The castle isn’t vacant though – it’s full of the evil minions of the demon Grell, who you must evict.

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The Curse of Sherwood, ZX Spectrum

The Curse of Sherwood is a 1987 action/adventure game from the prolific programmer/designer Derek Brewster.

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Battle Valley, Commodore 64

A fine side-scrolling action game released in 1988 on the budget Rack-It label (for a mere £2.99), Battle Valley is a hectic mixture of tank blasting and helicopter flying, with a pounding soundtrack and solid graphics.

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Bobby Bearing, ZX Spectrum

Bobby Bearing is an interesting isometric action game on the ZX Spectrum, published by The Edge in 1986.

You play as Bobby – a ball bearing – and must roll around the large, colourful maze, looking for and rescuing his four lost brothers and one cousin.

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Bonanza Bros., Megadrive/Genesis

Bonanza Bros. is a split-screen, two-player, side-scrolling action game that first appeared in arcades in 1990. A number of home conversions followed although none were better than this Sega Megadrive/Genesis version which was released in 1991.

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Ant Attack, Commodore 64

The ZX Spectrum original of Ant Attack was so good that it spawned a decent 1984 Commodore 64 version, by Paul Fik and Bitterne Software.

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