This Atari 8-bit conversion of David Crane‘s classic Atari 2600 platform game is subtitled the “Adventurer’s Edition” because it contains a whole new second level that becomes available after you complete the first.
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Pitfall II: Lost Caverns, Atari 2600
Activision‘s 1984 sequel to Pitfall! – Pitfall II: Lost Caverns – was again designed and programmed by David Crane. This time, though, the cartridge had a custom display processor chip inside, which allowed for improved visuals and continuous four channel music (the Atari 2600 is normally only capable of two channel sound).
Gameplay is similar to Pitfall!, although in this follow-up the world you can explore is much bigger than previously and is made up of eight screens in width, by 27 screens in height, making 216 screens in total. When you walk from one screen to another the new screen scrolls smoothly into view.
SimCity, Commodore 64
This classic city-building game was originally devised by creator Will Wright while he was working on the classic C64 shooter, Raid On Bungeling Bay. Wright found that he enjoyed making the overhead cities for the game – using his self-made editor – more than he enjoyed playing the game itself, so he set to work creating a game that would allow players to do the same.
SimCity was originally developed for the Commodore 64 and was initially released for that system in August of 1989, but was quickly ported to pretty much every video gaming system known to man at the time. It also spawned a long-running series, and provided a strong base from which developer/publisher Maxis would grow – specialising in “sim“-type games that would become its main market for decades to come.
Bruce Lee, Apple II
Predictably the Apple II conversion of Bruce Lee isn’t that great. It’s nowhere near as bad as the awful BBC Micro version, but it does have its problems. It first came out in 1984 and was programmed by Rick Mirsky.
Dark Chambers, Atari 7800
Dark Chambers is a one or two-player maze/action game that was directly influenced by Dandy, in that it was originally written by John Howard Palevich – the creator Dandy – to further expand (or in this case: simplify) the concept of a multiplayer fantasy action game.
The Great American Cross Country Road Race, Atari 8-bit
This simple but playable road racing game was written by Alex DeMeo for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers and was first published by Activision in 1985.
Continue reading The Great American Cross Country Road Race, Atari 8-bit
Bruce Lee, MSX
The MSX conversion of Datasoft‘s classic Atari 8-bit/Commodore 64 game, Bruce Lee, was coded by Mike Livesay and published by Comptiq in 1985.
Impossible Mission, Atari 7800
Dennis Caswell‘s classic Impossible Mission was released for the Atari 7800 in 1988 and it is a decent adaptation of the Commodore 64 original.
Carnival, Arcade
The classic 1980 arcade game, Carnival, was developed by Gremlin Industries (not to be confused with Gremlin Graphics) – an American company – and manufactured by Sega in 1980. It’s a funfair-themed game where the aim is to shoot moving targets while conserving your limited supply of ammunition for as long as possible.
Heretic II, PC
Heretic II is the de-facto sequel to Heretic, developed by Raven Software and published by Activision in 1998. It is a third-person fantasy action game that uses a modified version of the Quake II engine.
Heretic II sees the return of Corvus in a new adventure in the land of Parthoris. Upon arriving in Parthoris Corvus discovers that the town has been swept with a mysterious plague, so he sets out to investigate. He soon wishes he hadn’t as he discovers that he too is infected, so embarks on a quest to cure himself. This takes him through a variety of different environments, all filled with dangerous traps and monsters.
The King of Grabs 