Developed by Toys For Bob, Inc. and published by Crystal Dynamics (in North America and Japan) and BMG Interactive (in Europe) in 1994, The Horde is an isometric fantasy action game where you have to defend a village from attacking ‘Hordlings‘ – red gremlin-like creatures that attack in waves and try to eat and destroy everything in the province.
Tag Archives: action
Castlevania, Nintendo 64
Developed by Konami‘s Kobe division and first released in 1999, Castlevania on the N64 (sometimes referred to as “Castlevania 64“) is a third-person 3D game – the first 3D game, in fact, in the popular horror/platform/action series.
Chase HQ, PC Engine
The PC Engine version of Taito‘s classic car chase game, Chase HQ, is pretty decent. It was ported by Daiei Seisakusho for Taito , and is reasonably accurate, although it’s not quite as good as the arcade original itself. No surprises there, really, because the PC Engine (or the North American TurboGrafx-16 counterpart) is a small 8-bit console that was known for punching above its weight, but it wasn’t able to perform miracles.
Super Chase HQ, Super Nintendo
Super Chase HQ is an enhanced port of the classic Taito driving game, Chase HQ. It appeared in arcades first, under the title “Super Chase: Criminal Termination” and was ported to the Super Nintendo by Taito themselves and first released in 1993. Like its arcade counterpart it is a single-player only game.
Super Chase: Criminal Termination, Arcade
Super Chase: Criminal Termination was first released into arcades by Taito in 1993, followed soon after by a Super Nintendo version called “Super Chase HQ“. It is an enhanced sequel to the classic Chase HQ, and Special Criminal Investigation, and features viewpoints that change, depending on where you are in the game, and what vehicle you’re driving. In fact, this moving camera feature has been so well implemented by the developers that it really enhances the dynamism of the exciting car-chase gameplay.
Time Crisis, Arcade
Time Crisis is a classic lightgun shooter, developed and distributed into arcades by Namco in 1995. The game is played in a 3D environment, with all the locations, characters and cut scenes fully-modelled as texture-mapped polygons. Unlike many lightgun shooters of the time, Time Crisis is a single-player only game, because it utilizes a foot pedal for taking cover.
Area 51, Arcade
Developed by Mesa Logic and distributed into arcades by Atari Games in 1995, Area 51 is a lightgun shooter for one or two players where you play as a member of a military incursion team, called the Strategic Tactical Advanced Alien Response (STAAR), which has been sent in to prevent aliens – known as The Kronn – and alien-created zombies, from taking over the infamous Area 51 military facility.
Switchblade II, Atari Lynx
Switchblade II is a platform action game that originated on the Amiga; was developed by Gremlin Graphics, and published for the Atari Lynx by Atari Corporation in 1992. It is similar in some respects to Capcom‘s Strider, although the main character – Hiro – isn’t quite as dynamic as Strider Hiryu. The first Switchblade wasn’t released for the Lynx – just the sequel was.
Switchblade II, Amiga
The sequel to Switchblade, Switchblade II originally came out on the Amiga and was developed and published by Gremlin Graphics in 1991. The designer/programmer of the original Switchblade, Simon Phipps of Core Design, had no involvement in the creation of this follow-up.
Switchblade, Atari ST
Created by Simon Phipps (co-founder of Core Design), and published by Gremlin Graphics in 1989, Switchblade is a platform action game that could be described as a ‘spiritual successor’ to the Rick Dangerous games (also created by Simon Phipps). Switchblade features similar gameplay and graphics to Rick Dangerous, although it is more refined, less cartoony, and is far less frustrating to play. Switchblade came out on the Atari ST first and ports for the Amiga, C64, Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum followed.