John Van Ryzin‘s classic cave rescue game, H.E.R.O., was ported to Atari 8-bit computers by The Softworks and first published by Activision in 1984.
Tag Archives: Activision
The Eidolon, ZX Spectrum
I didn’t even know that Lucasfilm Games‘ classic 8-bit fantasy exploration game, The Eidolon, was available for the ZX Spectrum until recently. It was ported to the Spectrum by P.A.W. Software and first published by Activision in 1986. And this is my first time playing it.
The Eidolon, Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 version of Lucasfilm Games‘ The Eidolon came out just after the Atari 8-bit original, in 1985. The game divided critics, but in my opinion it is an atmospheric and unusual cave exploration game, with weird-looking monsters and scary-looking dragons, and is still worth playing today.
The Eidolon, Atari 8-Bit
Using an enhanced version of the fractal engine created for Rescue On Fractalus, The Eidolon is a first-person action game – developed by Lucasfilm Games and published by Epyx in North America in 1985 and Activision in Europe in 1986 – that divided critics when it was first released. While Zzap!64 magazine gave it 97% and a gold medal; raved about the game, and said that it was “not to be missed“, the reviewers of Computer Gaming World disliked it, describing it as “one of the worst games of 1986“… There’s no accounting for taste…
Doom II, Game Boy Advance
The Game Boy Advance port of id Software‘s classic first-person shooter sequel, Doom II, was developed by Torus Games and first published by Activision in 2002. Unlike the first Doom on the GBA this port doesn’t use the original Doom engine, but instead uses the Southpaw Engine, that was designed for native use on the GBA and has been used in a number of other games. Torus Games had to therefore recreate all the levels from scratch for this port, and I have to say that they did a great job.
Doom, Game Boy Advance
The Game Boy Advance version of Doom was developed by David A. Palmer Productions and published by Activision in 2001. It is a playable and enjoyable version of id Software‘s shooter classic on Nintendo‘s capable handheld.
Commando, Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 version of Commando was programmed by Mike Reidel and first published by Activision in 1985. Considering the console’s limitations this is a surprisingly good conversion of the vertically-scrolling shooter.
Alcazar: The Forgotten Fortress, ColecoVision
Alcazar: The Forgotten Fortress is a dungeon-crawling action game, designed and coded by Tom Loughry with graphics by Keri Longaway (nee, Janssen), and first published by Activision for the Coleco Adam and ColecoVision console in 1985.
Continue reading Alcazar: The Forgotten Fortress, ColecoVision
Kaboom!, Atari 2600
Another simple Atari 2600 game with compelling gameplay: Kaboom! is a 1981 Activision game where you must catch falling bombs (dropped by what looks like a burglar, but we’ll call him The Mad Bomber) onto a set of bats, without allowing any bombs to hit the ground below you.
Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure, Atari Jaguar
Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure is a scrolling platform game that is both a reboot of the original Pitfall! by David Crane and the fourth game in the Pitfall series. It was ported to the Atari Jaguar by British company Imagitech Design and published by Activision in 1995, having been released for the Megadrive/Genesis and Super Nintendo the previous year.
The King of Grabs 